Are you stalking me?
by Moon Prynces
Summary: Hitomi's the geeky new girl at Gaea High, Van & Allen are hot and popular jerks. There's 'Princess Perfect Millerna' and bad boy, pyro Dilly. Then Allen's little sis, Celena, who just transfers out of private school. Life will never be the same...VH AM DC
1. Chapter 1

I really, really shouldn't be starting another fic but when you read so many good stories on something it makes you wanna write. I got this idea(s) after reading so many high school fics for Van/Hitomi and reading a whole lot of Celena/Dilandau. I guess I also like Millerna/Allen because it's gonna be in here too.

I got the title because when I looked back at what scenes I had planned for the chapters a lot revolve around meeting people and running into someone so it's like 'Are you stalking me?' because it's so coincidental on an almost everyday basis.

**Disclaimer: I only say this one time throughout the fic, which is here right now. I do not own Escaflowne and the characters there.**

**xoxo**

**Title-Are you stalking me?!**

**Chapter 1**

**By-Moon Prynces**

**xoxo**

A sigh emitted the brunette who was diligently working on packing a few boxes, which right now were empty. She moved from one corner of the room to another, to a box, to another corner, another box and organized the contents neatly each time.

This was Hitomi Kanzaki, a sophomore in high school. Unfortunately her pretty name did not help the looks, which she didn't mind at all. She wore big round glasses that kept falling down the bridge of her nose almost hiding her big green eyes. Her clothes were mostly all baggy jeans and sweatshirts. Her hair, that was usually a bit above her shoulders, could always be seen tied in a sloppy, messy bun at the back of her head.

Although Hitomi's mother had complimented on her daughter's appearance countless times and the occasional comments and sneers from schoolmates, Hitomi didn't seem to care and avoided any questions about the topic.

Hitomi walked around the room to a window looking over the backyard. She poked her head outside and looked down.

"Mamoru! Come and finish packing. We're leaving soon so don't complain when you've accidentally left something behind!" Hitomi called down to her brother in a warning tone.

Her brother, only three years younger, stuck his tongue out at his older sister and went back to playing basketball. So as the thirteen year old ignored his sibling, Hitomi, helpless to do anything just pulled her head back in and went back to her own packing.

Hitomi wasn't exactly the outdoorsy type and certainly not the type of person to be interested in boys. She mostly stayed inside studying or reading. At school she was always considered the geeky, loner girl. She didn't really care what other people thought about her. She used to ignore them all but after reprimanding herself for feeling so depressed over what they said she began to stand up for herself. Occasionally saying something too clever for the other girls or even guys to respond back to. Hitomi didn't bother making friends either, making the other girls label her as a stuck up priss to add to the list of other names used on her.

Hitomi's mother and father were probably downstairs making sure the movers didn't drop the furniture and break things. She sighed again looking around at the half empty room.

Today they were moving because Hitomi's dads job called for it. She and her brother would also be attending different schools, starting all over again. It didn't matter and Hitomi had shrugged off the news as nothing. She didn't have anything or anyone to leave behind anyway. She wouldn't miss this place or hate it; it would just be there in her memory as her first home.

In a few hours they would be leaving and in a few days she would start a new high school. Even though it was a month in the school year the necessary paperwork had been done already because of the location change.

Three hours later Horoshi Kanzaki's (her father's) voice echoed through the completely vacant house. Hitomi walked downstairs with Mamoru trailing behind. Misumi Kanzaki (her mother) smiled at her children and glanced once more around the living room before turning around.

The four quietly walked out of the house and into the station wagon that was borrowed from a friend to hold more belongings.

Hitomi cast one last look at the house.

'I wonder what it'll be like there. A school with new people to meet.' She thought looking out the window at houses whizzing by.

**xoxo**

"I can't believe you told her that!" A guy with long blonde hair said laughing.

The other boy with him was casually leaning against the side of a wall outside. He had unruly raven locks and maroon eyes that pierced a stare through everyone he looked at. His skin was slightly tanned and he was a little shorter than his friend across from him.

This was Van Fanel. One of the hottest guys in his high school (Gaea) and not very modest about it either. Van was the typical popular and arrogant jerk every school has. Great looks but bad personality. He only dated girls for bets and used the power he had to his advantage.

He had the ego of a lion and was very brash and hardheaded. Van was a sixteen-year-old sophomore and on the basketball team, only adding to the list of things girls drooled over him for.

The other standing there laughing was a blonde haired, blue-eyed boy. His long golden hair almost reaching his waist. This was Van's best friend since childhood, Allen Schezar. Allen was also one of the hot and popular guys at the school they both attended, well when they felt like it anyway. They were always considered a destructive duo by friends, family and neighbors.

Allen was almost the complete opposite of Van in looks and personality. Despite having long and neatly combed hair unlike his companion, Allen thought things through before doing them, considering the consequences and also had his share of dates with girls but for other reasons, all the same immature though. Allen was a seventeen-year-old junior and the two weren't able to spend many classes together because of this.

Van just shrugged, his usual attitude about everything, making girls want to go out with him even more. "Well she wouldn't stop going on about the stupid equations and shit. So I asked to go to the bathroom and the fire alarm was just there so I had to do something." He concluded.

Allen shook his head. "So how are the girls coming along? Got any dates?" Allen said, back to his usual reserved, calm self.

"Nah, what's the point anyway? All they do is go on about makeup and clothes and ugh." Van said making a face and straightening himself up.

"Aw c'mon, there's just too many out there, don't let it go to waste." Allen said jokingly.

Van grinned. "It's not like I'm getting married anytime soon, sorry to disappoint you." He looked around at the school buildings. "Hey I think I had basketball practice today." Van said thoughtfully.

Allen laughed again and shook his head. "You're lucky they haven't kicked you off the team yet."

This time Van laughed. "Like they'd ever dare, I'm the best player they have. Without me they'd die out there."

"Yeah, maybe if you even passed all your classes they'd keep you for sure." Allen commented smiling.

Van smacked his head. "Hey, who told you about that?" He asked frowning.

"Yo, watch the hair!" Allen said pulling his hair away from his friends reach. "It really ain't that hard to tell when you've failed another test. You always storm around yelling at 'all the little people'."

Van, still frowning, stuck his head up in the air arrogantly. "Where's Dilandau been anyway? Haven't seen him in a week."

Allen shrugged. "Dunno, maybe he's been cutting some more classes."

"I doubt it, there's nothing else to do out there. At least in school it's never a boring day."

Allen glanced up at a clock on the school building. "Well, I gotta go soon. I'll see you later or tomorrow I guess. I'll be busy tonight."

"You got another date?" Van asked surprised.

"Nah, my sister's coming home today. Celena, I told you a bit about her. She goes to a private all girls' school. Haven't seen her for a few months."

"Alright, I'll see ya then."

**xoxo**

"Hey mom! I'm home!" Allen called closing the front door behind him and looking around.

Suddenly a head of light colored hair shot to the doorway and almost toppled on the floor along with Allen.

"You have no idea how much I've missed you brother!" Celena Schezar said looking up at her brother and letting him go from the hug she had been crushing him with.

"I've missed you too Celena, looks like you got taller since last time." He joked lightly.

Celena playfully glared. Allen looked down at his sister and smiled warmly.

Celena Schezar was a sixteen old sophomore in an all girls' private school. Her hair was a bit past her shoulders and was a very light blonde so it almost looked a white cream color. Her eyes were a light blue and compared to her brother's ocean blue hers resembled the sky.

"When did you get home?" Allen asked leading them to the living room where he dropped his book bag on the floor.

Celena paced around looking at the little new things in the room. "Mom just picked me up." She said nonchalantly.

Allen plopped himself down on a couch. "How long can you stay this time?"

Celena frowned looking at a picture frame. "I have about a week and a half off." She said thoughtfully. "Might be longer though." Celena murmured to herself so Allen couldn't hear.

"So what do you wanna do first? Going around the town or anything?" Allen asked again.

"Nah, I think I'll clean up my room some, haven't been in it for so long it feels like a guest room." She turned back to him smiling.

Celena walked upstairs with a thoughtful expression on. Allen shrugged it off and went to eat something.

'Should I?' Celena thought biting her lip and sitting down on her bed. 'Yeah, it's right. Mom and dad will be ok with it but I'm not sure about Allen. It's like he thinks I'm safe there and he won't need to worry about me.'

She made a decision and suddenly stood up.

'All I need to work on is how I want to tell them. It should be soon before they prepare to ship me back early.'

**xoxo**

"Excuse me, Miss Aston?" A voice called making a young woman turn to look up at the committee leader.

"Yes Miss Ashida?" The girl asked politely. A few other female members turned to look at her in envy.

"Can you please take care of this meeting today? I have been called to the office." The teacher said smiling at her student.

"Of course Miss Ashida. I will make sure to hand out the notes as well. Good luck with your meeting." The girl said seeing the teacher leave the room.

The girl gracefully stood up and walked to the front of the class. "Ok everyone I am sure that you've already read about the events coming up and you all know of the budget problems the school is having…" The girl's soft voice went on, everyone listening attentively.

This was the life of Millerna Aston. She had beautiful light blonde hair that went to her waist and was usually left out to show. Her eyes a light lavender color and her face making all the guys melt. A junior at Gaea high school, and seventeen years old, though by the way she acted people could mistake her for a business worker. Such was the life burdened when someone decided to grow up too fast.

Everyone thought of her as 'the perfect student', very 'ladylike' and with 'excellent manners'. She received some of the highest grades in all her classes. She was also very popular with the students as well as teachers with her beautiful looks and charm. Boys thought her a graceful swan and longed to go out with her, none asked though in fear of being turned down. All girls envied her and admired her to no end. No one could find a fault anywhere, not that they ever looked for any.

After an hour more of the after school committee meeting it ended and people began to leave after asking Millerna some more questions to clarify things.

"You're so pretty Millerna." A girl said talking with her.

"Thank you, but I'm really not anything special." Millerna said smiling and being modest.

"Millerna, you're so smart and nice." Another girl said gushing over her.

Millerna continued to accept their words still being slightly modest. After a few more minutes Millerna excused herself and said she needed to get home.

With her posture still intact the blonde walked away leaving the girls there to admire over their role model. Millerna's walk home was only a few short blocks.

As soon as she shut the front door a sigh came from her lips. And she put a hand to her head.

"Dammit, why are the days so long?" She groaned. Millerna promptly ran up to her room and changed out of her skirt and dress shirt from school and into a pair of sweats and tanktop. She dropped her bag and books on the bed.

Then Millerna walked downstairs and proceeded to dig through the fridge for a piece of cake.

"Aha! I knew Mom left me one! Thank kami-sama." She sighed and closed the fridge with her hips still holding a plate and spoon.

This is the real Millerna Aston. The girl that everyone at school adored was all a lie. She only did those things so she could have the perfect life but even the toughest shields need to be let down sometime.

Millerna really was a good person with a nice personality but since she was little her parents had filled her head with how proud they were of her. So to keep up their hopes and wishes she did the best she could in everything to make them happy. And before she knew it everyone had started staying she was 'Princess-Prefect Millerna' since middle school. The name stayed, she never worked less hard than any other day.

She never complained and whined, outside her home anyway. Her posture was perfect. Her looks and charm were great. She got along with everyone no matter what and worked hard at everything, from academics to sports, clubs and committees.

But trying to be 'perfect' isn't always so great. It is tiring with all the studying for classes and tests and practicing walking right and manners. To make things easier on herself she became a completely different person at home, her real self.

Millerna right now was sitting down in a kitchen chair and staring at the TV screen in front of her. "C'mon you stupid- no, not that one!" She yelled at the unfortunate person on a game show. "Son of a bitch." She cursed silently turning off the TV and getting up.

Even her vocabulary widened… to the 'unladylike words'.

She dumped the empty plate and spoon into the sink to wash later and walked out the kitchen to go upstairs. When she got upstairs Millerna grabbed a hair band and tied her hair into a ponytail.

"Now to start my homework." She said to herself and started filtering through a binder while kneeling down on the floor near her bed.

"Why couldn't that bastard be absent today? He just had to give us three pages to do didn't he?" Millerna groaned out loud.

**xoxo**

The sound of someone laughing like a maniac would have made heads turn if the person wasn't in a secluded place, supposedly by himself. A head of silver hair bobbed up and down in laughter. His red eyes shone with delight and giddy joy.

With a lighter in hand, so typical, Dilandau Albatou turned around to face crowd of people who had surrounded him.

"Not laughing so much now are we, pyro?" A menacing voice said to the said person with a lighter in hand.

Dilandau quickly shoved the lighter in a pocket in his jacket and smirked thoughtfully.

"Ah, I think I remember you. Consider that a compliment because I usually don't take time to store the names and faces of my enemies for further reference." The silver headed boy said.

After ten minutes Dilandau left the alley he had been in with his hands in his jacket pockets.

"Note to self, make better enemies." He said to himself.

Dilandau Albatou, a sophomore in high school and one of the most hot and dangerous guys there. His silver hair and ruby red eyes were rare and making him appeal to many girls as 'the dangerous biker type that parents warned them about'. Besides that he had an insane obsession with fire and since the age of three loved to set things on fire. Now though, having gotten older he knew that he couldn't just light anything… some weren't as flammable as others.

He attended Gaea high school (occasionally) and was a sophomore, sixteen years old. Dilandau was mostly a person who doesn't have real, stable, always there company but sometimes hung out with Van Fanel and Allen Schezar who were the only two he deemed worthy enough to be seen with. He wasn't really friends with them but didn't mean he didn't dislike them completely.

Most people knew to stay out of Dilandau's way, especially when he was mad. Some guys even thought he was crazy and should be sent to an asylum, but quickly changed their minds when Dilandau heard them.

Dilandau sighed. "Now where to go?"

**xoxo**

End of first chapter. It should have been longer but I'm lucky I was actually able to get this chapter written within five hours on the same day!

I think I'm going to record the date I do each chapter. I'm going to try and do one chapter per day. But I think I'll post it when I finish a few of them first.

11 - 12 - 03


	2. Chapter 2

**xoxo**

**Title-Are you stalking me?!**

**Chapter 2**

**By-Moon Prynces**

**xoxo**

The chimes and clanks of dinner plates and forks could be heard coming from the dining room of the Schezar house.

Celena stared down at her plate for a second before continuing to eat again. Allen looked up at everyone and decided to start a conversation.

"So how has school been Celena?" He asked looking across at his sister.

Celena looked up. "Well, we have a few new teachers but nothing really has changed. How has your school been brother?" She asked curiously.

"Eh, the same. Teachers talk too long and most peoples attention span nowadays are pretty low."

"Would you be included in that category then?" Celena asked pretending to sound innocent.

Their mother smiled at her children and interrupted. "What about Van Fanel? Don't you two still talk a lot?"

"Of course, when we're not in class mostly." Allen smirked thinking about cutting another class tomorrow.

After that was spoken no one talked for a while with an awkward silence in the air. Celena was now getting fidgety and poking at her food rather than eating it. She glanced over to Allen's plate and saw that he was almost done.

'Ok, I can do this. Just get it out before they leave.' Celena told herself taking a deep breath. She looked back and tried to smile.

"Um, mom, dad?" Celena glanced to her brother. "Allen. I sorta wanted to tell you guys something." She said removing her hands from the top of the table.

"What is dear?" Her mother asked smiling.

By now Celena was wringing her hands underneath the table. She closed her eyes and said it. "I've decided that I... I don't was to go back to private school any more. I... I wanna attend the same public school as Allen." She announced.

When no one spoke she opened her eyes again to see her mother and father giving worried looks and Allen was looking pensive.

"Are you sure about this?" Her father asked looking over at his daughter.

"Did something happen in school or something that makes you want to leave?" Her mother asked with concern.

"No, no, it's nothing like that. It's just… I've been in an ALL girl's school since I was in the second grade and it's lonely there. I hardly ever see you guys and what's so wrong with wanting to go to a public school and actually interacting with normal girls and boys?" She asked feeling guilty.

"But your school is in one of the highest ranks and it could really get you into a good college." Her father said again.

"But I never wanted any of this. You two wanted to send me off to 'a better education'." Celena countered.

"You always liked it before, never complained. Has something happened?" Her mother asked again, still worried.

"No, I just want a change. I want a normal life like everybody else." Celena shut her eyes tightly. "How come Allen never had to do this and you shipped me off? He never went to a private school and he has actual friends."

Celena opened her eyes to see her father looking down with his hands folded holding up his head. Her mother was staring at her plate and looking thoughtful. Allen was frowning but not looking at her directly. Celena looked down at her plate with her hands now completely still under the table.

'Oh no, bad move. What do I do now? What if they send me off and never see me again or something? No, my parents were never like that… but I hardly ever saw them anyway. What about Allen? Why won't he help me out of this?' Celena thought frantically.

Finally after the excruciatingly long silence and no one moving her father nodded and spoke.

"I… I guess it is true, we never gave you a choice about this and it isn't fair to you." He said slowly.

Her mother suddenly nodded and looked up smiling. "Alright Celena, I'm sure you think this is a good thing and I think I agree with you. You'll need to know what the real world is like sometime. A regular high school will be a good experience."

"I understand how you must feel." Her father continued.

Celena looked over to Allen to see what he'd say. Allen was battling himself if this really was a good decision thing or not and the only thing he could come up with is that she could get kidnapped and raped in a public school.

Finally after a minute he smiled.

"I'm sure you know what you're getting yourself into. Everything will work out in the end." He said getting up and leaving the room.

**xoxo**

Hitomi sighed and looked back up at her mom while sitting on her bed with crossed legs.

"What about this one? Hitomi doesn't it look pretty?" Her mother asked looking hopeful.

Hitomi just blew a strand of stray hair away from her face. "It's fine mom but I'm not wearing it either way." She said firmly.

"Please Hitomi at least try to be more social this time. High school is one of the most important times in your life. You should really make the most of it." Misumi sighed.

The sandy haired girl glanced at her clock. "Mom I'm happy just the way things are. And I'm still not changing these clothes." She said looking down at her baggy jeans and shirt. "Now I really should leave for school before I'm late."

Hitomi got off her bed and grabbed the book bag near the door on her way out. She left the house with her mother still shaking her head in Hitomi's room.

The green-eyed girl walked her way to her knew high school, Gaea. It was an unusual name and she had never heard of it.

'Wonder if the people there are just as weird as the name.' Hitomi thought turning the corner and spotting the many big buildings.

As she weaved her way through crowds to reach the front door suddenly someone moving their elbow caused her to get shoved into a boy standing near by. They both ended up falling down on the floor.

"Hey, watch where the hell you're going!" The person's harsh voice yelled as he stood up.

Hitomi scrambled around and finally found her glasses to put on and picked up her book bag standing up. "I'm so sorry. I-" She was cut off by the person again.

"Well no wonder, you're just another nerd. Of course I don't think I've seen you around here." The boy commented. Hitomi looked up to see the messy black hair and deep red eyes. Her anger boiled as a crowd began to appear at the commotion.

"Who the hell are you talking to like that you jerk?" Hitomi yelled in his face making some girls in the crowd gasp. "I said I was sorry although I don't think you deserved it."

"Do you know who the hell you're speaking to little girl? You really must be a new here. Fine I'll let you off easy this time." He said smirking arrogantly and walked away with a blonde haired boy as they laughed.

Hitomi was fuming as the people all left and watching the back of the guy walking away. She wanted to walk up to him and smack him so hard. Of all the types of people she'd dealt with this kind of person was new to her. The guys and girls would usually snicker about her in the background, not try and yell at her upfront.

'Just great I'm already starting off this day the wrong way.' She thought continuing her walk to the office to get her schedule.

After getting her classes and locker number Hitomi looked down to see what she had first and almost groaned out loud.

'Oh crap, why me? I even get math first period today! Why does the world hate me?' She thought starting off towards the classroom.

**xoxo**

"Why did I bother coming to class?" Van asked himself lazily holding his head in his left hand and staring out the window on his left.

'This is all Allen's fault, wait till I get a hold of him. Really, why should I actually try to pass all my classes, they'd never kick me off the team. And if they did…well everyone knows the consequences.' He thought grinning and watching a leaf fall off the tree outside.

Then the loud sound of the teacher tapping a ruler on his desk brought everyone's attention to the front of the room. Mr. Tawada looked down at the girl standing in front of the class.

Since nobody had been paying attention they all failed to hear when a girl with brown hair and big glasses knocked on the door and came inside to speak with the teacher.

When Van looked over to the girl the first thought that struck him was 'Oh fuck.' He groaned out loud, loud enough for the teacher to hear and glare in his direction.

"As I was about to say." Mr. Tawada continued. "This is a new transfer student. Her name is Hitomi Kanzaki and she just moved to this neighborhood. I'm sure you will all make her feel welcomed." He said shooting some people a few looks and his words were followed by a few snickers from some girls and guys in the room.

Van turned back away from the girl to the window again knowing this was just a waste of his time, as if this class wasn't already. He began spacing off and thinking of what he'd do at lunch when the teacher saying something else caught his ears.

"Since Hitomi has just come and a month after school has started, she hasn't yet had a tour of the school grounds and doesn't know where the school buildings are. I would like a volunteer to take her and show her around the place and get accustomed to Gaea high school." He finished.

Van lazily picked his right hand off the desk and hung it in the air. He looked around to see that practically everyone was asleep or looking around, just as bored as he was.

Mr. Tawada looked around the room hoping to see at least a few hands up in the air but found none. When he checked around again there was only one hand there. He wanted to slap his head in exasperation but knew it wouldn't be considered very professional.

The hand belonged to Van Fanel of course, and even though Mr. Tawada could see the only reason his hand was up was to miss class he could do nothing about it. He glanced back down at Hitomi who was also looking at everything with a disinterested stare.

He grumbled under his breath and finally called Van up, only because he needed to start today's lesson.

Van was smirking as he picked up his book bag and left the classroom and the idea of why he would want to spend time with the new girl hit everyone like a train. They started shifting around uncomfortably as Van quickly walked past Hitomi outside the room.

Hitomi was in shock, seeing that the kid that blew up at her this morning was in her first class. She could do nothing but follow him outside the classroom for her tour of the school grounds but had a feeling he had something else in mind.

"Hey! Wait up!" Hitomi called as Van tried to leave the building without her. "Where are you going?" She asked stopping in front of him.

Van rolled his eyes. "I'm going home that's what." He said like it was obvious.

"Listen you... you... whoever the hell you are, Mr. Tawada just gave you specific instructions to show me around so you had better not ditch me here." Hitomi warned him.

Van looked at her, studying her. "Why should I?" He asked in his most calm, well-mannered voice.

Hitomi narrowed her eyes behind the big glasses she wore and glared. "Because Mr. Tawada said to and I need to be able to find my way around this place."

"Fine." Van shrugged. "There's nothing to do at home anyway." He said walking off without her. "Are you coming for your 'tour' or not?" He called without looking back.

Hitomi glared at him and huffed before following him. "Who the hell did they stick me with here?"

Van looked at her out of the corner of his eyes. "Van Fanel, you'd better remember it, you'll be hearing it around a lot."

The name was now permanently engraved in her brain. Hitomi was just about to give him a good kick when he interrupted her thought by talking.

"There are six different buildings with classes in them. Buildings A, B, C, D, E, and F. Building D is the gym and is near the track for the sports we have here." He began.

Despite hating this Van guy's guts Hitomi paid close attention to what he was saying. She certainly didn't want to get lost on her first day.

"Building A contains the main office, principle's office and all classrooms in the one hundreds. Building B has the two hundreds, Building C the three hundreds. Building E has the four hundreds and building F has the five hundreds." Van continued walking while pointing to which building was which and where the entrances were. "Oh and Building E has the cafeteria but sometimes people will come outside and eat." He said motioning to all the tables with benches on the campus.

Hitomi nodded every now and then even though Van didn't even glance at her face.

After a few minutes of silence Van stopped walking suddenly and Hitomi almost walked right into him. He abruptly turned around to face her.

"Ok, are you happy now you little nerd? I showed you around the school grounds." He said with his hands on his waist.

Hitomi started at the name he called her. "What the hell is your problem? You moron! I didn't even do anything to you yet and you're acting like you're king of the world with your high and mighty attitude!" She yelled at him. Van tried to keep a straight face.

"Pretty bitchy I see. Guess I should add that to list of things to warn people about you." Van said thoughtfully.

"You jerk! Just shut up and leave me alone!" Hitomi said storming away from a smirking Van Fanel.

**xoxo**

A static sound echoed through Building B, which meant that someone was making an announcement. Students right now were walking around, getting books from lockers and chatting with friends before fifth period class started.

"Would Allen Schezar please report to the main office in Building A as soon as possible please, thank you." The female voice on the intercom stated.

A few 'oohs' and cheers sounded through the hallway from people as Allen just walked by and smiled, on his way to the office. In a situation like this it only meant one thing: that he'd gotten caught for something but right now he couldn't remember doing anything wrong the entire week and knew that they couldn't have caught him cutting last week. Van, Dilandau and him had been skipping classes since they got to high school and had never once been caught.

Nevertheless he shrugged it off and just went anyway. Upon reaching he was met with a secretary working there who said to go to the principle's office. Allen walked to the room in the back and glanced around to the guy around his late thirties standing up at a window and looking at some papers.

"You wanted to see me Mr. Wanaki?" Allen asked casually and taking a seat on a chair.

Over the few years that Allen had been in this school the principle knew just about everything about Van, Dilandau and Allen, since they used to 'pay him visits so often'.

"Ah yes, Allen, good thing you came before your next class. Sorry to say but your class schedule has been changed around a bit." The principle handed over a piece of paper from his desk and Allen looked it over.

"Not much change though." Allen commented on it and shoved the paper into his book bag. "Is that all?" He asked looking back up.

"Yeah, just haven't seen you three in for awhile. Strange that neither of you have gotten in any trouble yet." Mr. Wanaki said lightly.

Allen grinned. "Don't worry, you won't be alone that much longer, I'm sure Dilandau will turn up trying to burn down the gym or something pretty soon." Allen joked leaning back in the chair.

"Well anyway, you should be going to your next class now. If you're late just say you were here." The principle said again waving as Allen left the room.

Once Allen was out of the main office he stopped and dug through his bag for the new class schedule.

"Let's see then I have… a new history class now." Allen said folding the paper and tucking in the back pocket of his jeans. "Great, I gotta go all the way to Building C now."

He walked as slowly as possible and realized that Van and him weren't in the same class anymore then.

'Wonder if that moron's staying for lunch.' Allen thought glanced at some trees before entering the school building. He found the classroom and knocked on the door first, to announce his presence and then walked in.

The class was in the middle of a lesson (he really knew how to walk slow) so when Allen walked in the teacher looked over from writing on the blackboard and the class looked up from their desks.

"Hey, my class was changed so I come here now." Allen said casually walking over to the teacher.

She narrowed her eyes at him. Then nodded and turned around to the class. "Class this will be your new classmate through the rest of the year. His name is Allen Schezar."

Most people in this class had never had a class with or ever seen the infamous Allen Schezar so it was no surprise when jaws dropped and girls sighed dreamily. Allen just smiled charmingly at some girls in the front row.

"Ok Allen, take the empty seat in the back." The teacher motioned to an empty desk. "If you need any help on catching up with the rest of us I'm sure Millerna will be happy to assist you." Then she went back to the lesson with most people paying attention.

Allen quickly labeled this class one of his worst and was planning on when he'd cut while walking to his seat but someone stood up and began speaking to him. The person sat right in front of his seat too. No one else was paying attention to him since the seat was in a corner of the room.

The girl standing up bowed politely. "Hello, my name is Millerna Aston. If you need any help with the classwork please just ask." She said and sat back down.

Allen stood there for a second blinking and then shook off the girls' introduction and dropped himself in his chair.

Five minutes later Allen was dead bored and staring at the sheet that had been given out like it was written in some alien language. Finally he glanced up to see what everybody else was doing. The first person he noticed was the girl in front of him.

Allen leaned forward on the desk. "Hey, whatever your name is, what the hell are we doing?" He whispered and then sat back in his chair again.

Millerna glanced back and then turned around. "Do you need any help with the work?" She asked nicely, smiling.

Allen was looking up at the ceiling while answering, his hands holding his head. "Nah, just do the whole thing for me." He said bored.

Millerna still smiled, trying to be polite. "I'm sorry I can't just give you the answers. You do need to look up the information yourself." She said and turned back around.

Allen who was now annoyed picked up a pencil and poked her in the back. "C'mon, it's not like the teacher will know. Do you want me to fail this class?" Allen whispered to her again.

'Personally I don't care either way.' Millerna thought looking upwards. She slowly turned back around and faced the idiot again, still smiling. "I can help you but you will have to do the work yourself. Do you want me to?"

Allen rolled his eyes like the girl was stupid. "What is with you? Stop acting like some good little girl and do my work." Allen demanded, still whispering. "It's not uncommon, you just heard who I am, why aren't you groveling yet?" He asked eyeing her curiously.

Millerna fought the urge to strangle him. "Yes, I did hear your name. But I won't be a slave for anyone for any reason." She said and turned back away from him.

Allen was staring in awe at the girl. 'What the hell just happened? Hasn't she ever heard of me before? That's it; before this year is over I'll make sure she'll never forget me.' He promised himself as the bell rang and he left the class.

**xoxo**

There, all done.

I'm working on making the chapters at least ten pages each but so far the first was six and this chapter is seven.

I know the only person I didn't get around to putting in here was Dilly. But don't worry he'll be here next time.

11 - 14 - 03 (took me two days to do!)


	3. Chapter 3

**xoxo**

**Title-Are you stalking me?!**

**Chapter 3**

**By-Moon Prynces**

**xoxo**

Flick. Flick. Flick.

"Would you stop that?" Van asked annoyed.

"What's a matter Fanel? Had a rough day?" Dilandau asked still flicking his lighter on and off and watching it.

Van growled. "Better watch out before you burn off one of those fingers."

"Hey, hey. C'mon now, we don't need a fight on a Friday." Allen cautioned them both.

Van, Allen, and Dilandau were hanging around the back of the school's gym building under the shade of trees. Some classes had just ended for most people and students were starting to leave at the school gates. Others could also be seen littered throughout the school's grounds. It was a nice Friday afternoon and these three had finally gotten around to meeting up before the weekend.

"Seriously though Van, you don't seem like yourself. What's been up with you?" Allen asked again leaning against a nearby tree and turning to his raven-haired friend.

"Fuck off Allen." Van worded carefully.

"What Fanel, got girl troubles?" Dilandau teased closing his lighter loudly and stuffing it in the back pocket of his jeans.

Van rolled his eyes. "Shut up Dilandau. This is school, I have a headache everyday for some reason or other."

Dilandau looked over at Allen who was looking pensive with a glare and frown. "What's with him?" He asked Van motioning to the blonde.

Van just shrugged and hit his friend's shoulder. Allen almost fell over because of it. Dilandau grinned. Allen quickly straightened himself and pretended to be nonchalant at asking a question.

"Have any of you guys heard of someone named Millerna Aston?" He asked pushing his hands in his pockets.

Van gave a thoughtful and then confused look. "No, why?"

Dilandau answered immediately after. "Yeah, I remember her." He said looking up with a hand on his chin in thought. "Yup, 'Princess-Perfect-Millerna'. We went to the same middle school." Dilandau shrugged as the other two gave him looks.

"'Princess-Perfect-Millerna'?" Allen asked again. "So, you know her then right?"

Dilandau nodded carefully while Van tried to act uninterested. "She was trying to be the best at everything while I was trying to burn down the school." He grinned again.

"Hmm…" Allen murmured thoughtfully.

"Why so interested Schezar?" Dilandau asked curiously.

"Looks like destiny lined up a row of pins for me to knock down." Allen said to himself still thinking.

Van smacked the blonde upside the head. "What are you talking about? Another date?"

Allen just shook his head. "Nah, met her two days ago. Dam is she annoying, how anyone can stand to like her is beyond me. She's walking around like some stuck up priss and no one else sees it."

Dilandau raised a brow. "And what are you going to do?"

"Bring her down of course. Ok, I must admit it only started when she wouldn't do my work but now I'll make sure every time she hears my name she'll crumble to the floor." Allen declared.

Dilandau smirked. 'Looks like this year will be a whole lot more interesting.' He thought.

Allen was busy making his mental preparations. 'I'll show everyone she's only using them and that she really is cheating to pull off all those grades and stunts in her gym classes. No one is perfect.' He smirked.

Van was busy looking off onto the fields near the gym building. He squinted his eyes and spotted someone familiar. He was brought back by a comment about him.

"What are you looking at Van?" Allen said squinting his eyes and looking out onto the field.

"Nothing." He said turning away and folding his arms.

"More like who." Dilandau mumbled also looking in the direction. "Never seen her around before." He commented. "She new or something?"

Allen turned away as well. "I guess so, heard about her I think. Van don't you have a class with her?" He asked turning to look at Van, who was glaring at him.

"Yeah, what about her?" He asked harshly.

Dilandau whistled. "What happen? She turn you down for a date or something?" He joked.

"Does it look like I go out with swamp beasts?" He asked dryly.

"No wonder you've been acting so sour. Must have something to do with the new girl. What's her name and when did you meet her?" Allen asked glancing at the girl near the track field.

"Bitch's name is Kanzaki Hitomi. I had the pleasure of meeting her on Wednesday, two days ago." Van said lacing every word with sarcasm.

"Looks like a nerd for sure." Dilandau said stretching his hands and putting them behind his head.

"Not only that but she acts like she's royalty or something. Dam moron just won't shut up either." Van added.

"Well, looks like you two are in for quite a year." Dilandau said yawning and looked around.

"Hey Dilandau since you know the Millerna girl and all, don't tell her about what I plan to do to her." Allen warned him seriously.

The silver-haired boy waved a hand in dismissal. "I may know who she is, doesn't mean I talk to her or anything." Then he added. "Just that one time when she was trying to warn me about fires." He said grinning. "I'll see you two later or something."

"Whatever, and next time you plan on ditching school at least let us in on it." Van said carelessly.

"Right, see you round then." Allen said as Dilandau turned and walked away.

**xoxo**

A loud yawn was heard and the blob of almost white colored hair rose up in the air. Celena grinned as the sunlight made her squint her eyes. 'I love Saturdays!'

She quickly untangled herself from the bed sheets and walked to her own bathroom. She thought of what she'd do for the day while brushing her teeth and taking a shower.

'I'm still so happy mom and dad are letting me go to Allen's school!' She thought excitedly. 'I can't wait till Monday. Maybe I should go shopping today for some clothes then. Thank kami-sama I don't have to wear a uniform anymore!'

Celena quickly dressed herself in a green halter-top and blue jeans skirt that was above her knees. She checked herself in the mirror before walking out her bedroom door.

Downstairs in the kitchen sat her mother, father and Allen. They all looked like they just woke up and were eating pancakes.

"Good Morning." Celena chirped happily. She sat down at the table and began eating some pancakes and drinking some orange juice.

After they talked lightly and Celena shared some of her expectations of school she told her family she'd be going to the mall and come home in a few hours or so.

"Are you sure you'll be ok? Do you remember where the mall is?" Her mother asked looking up.

"I'll be fine. I remember from all the trips on my other vacations, don't worry." She smiled at them. "What will you be doing today Allen?" She glanced at her brother as he was chewing some pancakes.

He mumbled something but no one understood because of the chewing.

"Shouldn't speak with your mouth full son, might choke." Their father warned.

Celena shrugged and got up to leave. "I'll see you guys later, bye." She waved and walked out with a handbag on her shoulder.

Once she was about five blocks away her mind started to wander. 'I never remember that house being there. Did someone put up a new one?' Celena looked around the street she was on again. 'Ok, now when I turn this corner I should see the mall and...' She stopped at seeing a dead end street.

Celena turned around and was about to walk but something caught her ear.

"Well, well, well. What's a girl like you doing here?" A masculine voice asked looking at her.

Celena looked around and finally spotted the person talking to her up in a tree to her left. The tree was in the yard of a house and the boy was lying down on a thick branch with his hands behind his head. He had silvery hair and red eyes.

"Um, excuse me?" Celena asked cocking her head to the side. "Were you talking to me?" She asked pointing to herself.

Dilandau rolled his eyes and sat up with one knee up and put his hand on it. "No, a lot of girls decide to wander into a dead end street." He replied sarcastically.

Celena smiled. "Then go bother one of them." She joked and was about to walk away when he jumped out of the tree and landed in front of her. Dilandau got up from crouching as he landed.

"Hm…" He started off, studying her. "Never seen you around before, have I?" He asked himself. "Do you go to Gaea high school?"

"Well, not yet. I'm starting on Monday." She answered still smiling. "I'm Celena." She introduced.

Dilandau studied her up and down some more. Then shook his head and turned around to walk away.

"Wait!" Celena called him. Dilandau glanced back with a raised eyebrow. "Could you help me with something?" She asked sheepishly.

"Sorry lady, I got better things to be doing right now." Dilandau answered walking away.

'Great now what do I do? I'm lost in my own neighborhood. Dammit, where do I go? I can't remember where my own house is, let alone the mall.' She thought to herself. 'If I can just get to the mall then I could call home.'

Dilandau, who had been watching her contemplate something, was just about to walk away for good but a hand on his shoulder made him turn back around. "What?" He asked harshly.

"C'mon have a heart. All I need to know is where the mall is." Celena tried again making the guy turn all the way around.

Dilandau's face contorted. "The mall? Are you crazy? Do you know long of a walk that is?" He demanded.

Celena grinned. "But you'll have to." She said happily.

"Why?" Dilandau asked curiously.

Celena held up her right hand, which had been behind her back the whole time. "Because I just found your wallet and the least you could do is repay me for my good deed." She said grinning.

Dilandau blinked. "What the hell?" He felt around in his jacket pocket. "Why you little... You just took that!" He accused.

"No I didn't." Celena said smiling innocently and handing it over to him.

After Dilandau scowled, then snatched it from her hand and stuffed it in his pocket he turned back around. "Fine, not like I got anything better to do. By the way, where'd you learn to pickpocket so well?" He asked trying to sound uninterested.

Celena smiled and began following behind the stranger. "Well, no one ever said private school was free of crimes and things. I got it from some friends there." She shrugged.

Dilandau nodded in thought. 'Shit, how'd I get stuck babysitting some girl?' He asked shaking his head. 'Another new girl at school? What's wrong with these people? But that pickpocketing thing was genius, maybe there's hope for her yet.'

"You go to Gaea high school?" Celena asked trying to make conversation.

Dilandau grinned. "Well most of the time, yeah."

Celena made a confused look but didn't bother with his comment. "Well maybe I'll see you around sometime then."

"Wouldn't count on it." He said carelessly.

Celena decided to move away from the subject of school since he really didn't seem to care much about it. "The tree you were in, was that your house there?" She asked.

"Nah, I dunno who lives there." He answered still walking ahead of her.

"Well, then why were you up there if you don't live there?" She asked surprised.

Dilandau shrugged. "I needed a nap and didn't feel like walking home." He answered.

'What's with this guy?' Celena thought staring at his back. 'He doesn't seem to care about anything, let alone breaking rules.'

"Oh well lookie there, it's the mall." Dilandau said stopping in front of a big building with people around it. He turned around to her. "You know what? Maybe I will see you around school sometime, Celena. Bye." He stuffed his hands in his pockets walking away.

Celena stood there watching him walk away before realizing something. "Hey, wait! I never got your name!" She tried to call him but he was too far away by now.

She sighed and then couldn't help but feel the excitement bubbling inside her once again. 'I can't wait till Monday!' She thought before walking into the mall.

**xoxo**

'I hate Mondays!' Hitomi thought getting herself out of bed and into the shower. She quickly started to dress after getting out of the shower.

Hitomi glanced at the clock and found out she was going to be late if she didn't hurry up. After putting on her glasses she ran out her room and down the stairs, grabbing her bag on the way.

"Sorry, can't stay for breakfast! Gonna be late!" She called to her family passing the kitchen on her way out the door.

'I can't believe this! How did my alarm clock not work?' She thought running to school.

**xoxo**

Hitomi groaned dragging her feet and schoolbag to an empty round table in the cafeteria. She promptly dropped down in a chair and rested her head in her hand.

"Why, oh why did it have to be me?" She asked herself.

Hitomi had just come from another exhausting class with Van Fanel. That guy would never give up a chance to annoy or embarrass her. She'd dealt with this almost everyday she had a class with him.

Wasn't he ever absent? Didn't he ever shut up?

The only good thing was she never let her guard down for him to take advantage of. She always had a comeback and never gave up a fight, whether with paper balls or insults.

But even if she won (which had never happened, they all ended in draws) it was still tiring to have to deal with it. Hitomi sighed and closed her eyes, preparing for a nap until the bell rang.

First she had been late to her first class, which resulted in extra work. Then she had to deal with Van Fanel, which meant she learned near to nothing in that class. More stuff to study at home she noted. And then she didn't have the energy to get up and get lunch, and plus she forgot her money at home. So now the day just plain sucked.

'And barely a week of school has passed. I'm going to hate this entire year!' She thought frowning while still trying to sleep. She sighed and turned her head another way. 'Maybe if I could reach my bag under the table, I could start my homework so I can rest at home.' She thought. 'Good thing I didn't try out for any sports or after school stuff.'

"Excuse me?" A soft voice said in front of her.

Hitomi looked up to see the perfect image of a student and girl, standing right there and looking at her. Hitomi glanced sideways to make sure the girl was actually talking to her.

"Um, yes?" She answered as the other girl smiled.

"I'm sorry if I bothered you but there's no where else to sit. May I please use this seat?" The girl motioned to the chair across from Hitomi.

"Oh sure, I'm not using it anyway." Hitomi replied watching as the girl said a thank you and sat down with her lunch tray and putting her books and handbag on the table.

Millerna had just started eating her salad when she noticed the other girl still looking at her. She glanced up. "Oh, I'm sorry. My name is Millerna Aston. What is your name?"

"I'm Hitomi Kanzaki." She answered and looked around.

"I don't think I've ever seen you before. Do I have any classes with you?" Millerna asked again, trying to make polite conversation.

Hitomi shook her head. "I don't think so, but either way I am new here. I just started school here a few days ago."

Millerna nodded. "I see. So how do you like school here?"

'Why is she being nice to me? She's got to be one of those popular drama queens. Maybe this is some dare or whatever they put her up to, like who would talk to the new girl.' Hitomi thought. The green-eyed girl just shrugged. "It's ok I guess. But then again there are some people here who I just wanna…" Hitomi trailed picturing herself choking the stuffing out of Van Fanel.

"People like who?" Millerna asked curiously thinking about shooting arrows into Allen Schezar and hearing his screams.

Hitomi looked up from her daydreaming. "Oh, uh, do you know of someone named Van Fanel?"

Millerna shook her head no. Hitomi didn't say anything after that and Millerna looked up from eating to see she was glaring at something to her right. Millerna turned to look there too and saw something that made her blood boil.

Allen Schezar was sitting there and flirting with about five girls all at once, not that any of the airheads cared.

'How can anyone like someone who's brain dead?' Millerna thought angrily but keeping a neutral face.

"See the one with black hair?" Hitomi asked turning away.

Millerna looked around and spotted who she was talking about. He was sitting with Allen but trying as discretely as possible to ignore the squawking girls. She turned away and looked at her food and then Hitomi.

"Yeah, what about him?" She asked continuing to eat.

"He's such an annoying jerk." Hitomi said tiredly. "And he won't leave me the hell alone!" She whispered, not wanting to attract his attention for more sparring.

"Do you know who the blonde one is?" Millerna questioned.

Hitomi shrugged. "His dumb blonde sidekick?" She guessed.

"Allen Schezar. If you're saying Van Fanel is annoying then you have no idea what his friend is capable of." Millerna murmured but Hitomi heard anyway.

"Well looks like we have something in common then." Hitomi said smiling. "You know, no offense but you don't seem like the type of person to hold any grudge. You seem too… perfect." She concluded.

"Thank you, but I'm nothing really." Millerna smiled at the compliment. 'Dammit, think I still have a headache from that last class with Schezar, and that was two periods ago!' She thought.

After a little while more of chatting about trivial things, like music and some teachers the bell rang. They both stood up and gathered their things.

"Maybe I'll see you around sometime, Millerna." Hitomi said slinging her bag over her shoulder.

Millerna put on her handbag and picked up her books. "I'm sure we will. It was nice meeting and talking to you." She said smiling as they both parted for their next classes.

**xoxo**

Chapter three, done.

Ok, bi.

11 - 16 - 03 (started last night.)


	4. Chapter 4

**xoxo**

**Title-Are you stalking me?!**

**Chapter 4**

**By-Moon Prynces**

**xoxo**

"I will now be taking attendance, to make sure everyone is here today, since some people think they can get away with skipping classes they don't like." The teacher announced eyeing a few unfortunate freshmen who were caught yesterday and scheduled to have suspension.

'I wonder how Hitomi is. I haven't seen her for three days now.' Millerna thought looking at the teacher. 'No! Have to focus on schoolwork right now!' She reprimanded herself.

Slumped in his chair and chin on his desk was Allen Schezar, in the seat behind Millerna. He was glancing around the room, bored of course, even with some girls shooting him smiles and winks.

He looked up at the person in front of him. She was sitting straight up in her chair, probably with hands folded on her desk, and listening attentively. Allen scowled.

'Well guess it's about time to try and get under the skin of Miss Aston.' Allen thought smirking and picking his head off the table. 'Maybe coming to class today actually had a point.'

First Allen started with poking her in the back with a pen when no one was looking. Millerna immediately stiffened at the awkward feeling and dared not turn around before he started laughing out loud at getting to her. Finally after she'd had enough of that Millerna turned around.

"Excuse me? Could you please stop doing that?" She asked politely and then turned back to the front of the room.

Of course after class begun practically nobody looked at that corner of the room because everyone knew that Millerna would be paying attention and Allen wasn't much of a big deal compared to what the teacher would do if anyone was caught daydreaming or trying to flirt across the room.

"C'mon Millerna, I'm bored. Turn around and do this review sheet for me." Allen whispered in her ear leaning forward.

Millerna kept a neutral face and ignored his comments. Allen didn't care and was now going on about how much this teacher sucked at her job and should be fired. Then he moved on to say rude things about people who he considered 'unworthy' of ever being in his presence.

"You know you actually are good at playing this game." Allen commented. "Not a word through any of that? If you turned around right now I bet I'd see you biting your lip from not trying to yell at me for something." He smirked.

Millerna was copying down some notes on something the teacher had just said when he spoke that. 'Wrong, moron. I wouldn't be doing something that obvious.' Millerna thought trying not to roll her eyes. She looked down at the nail marks in her palms and sighed.

Allen caught her sigh and then poked her in the back with a finger. "What's with you? What's with this whole 'perfect-girl-mode'?" He asked.

Millerna looked back up straight at the blackboard. 'What's he talking about? He couldn't know about middle school and all that, right? Dammit, I hate that name, 'Princes-Perfect-Millerna'? Humph. As if, then again, no one is supposed to know what I'm really like.' She thought again with another sigh.

'What if I did the wrong thing all along?' Millerna thought again. 'What if I just was my normal self around everyone? Maybe then I'd have friends.' She shook her head. 'No, this is for my parents. It was probably my fault that dad left in the first place. I just wasn't a good enough daughter, like Eries or Marlene.'

'What the hell is she doing? I thought I struck a nerve.' Allen thought angrily and a little confused. He watched as Millerna let out another sigh and then slumped a bit in her own chair. 'At least I'm finally getting somewhere. Dam this girl is strong.' He grinned. 'All the more a challenge.'

Millerna was now spacing off in class trying to remember what her dad looked like. Then she thought of her two older sisters that had both moved out and to different areas in Japan to live.

'I wonder where Marlene and Eries are now. Wonder if they met up with father.' Her thoughts trailed on a bit before she realized that the teacher was writing something else on the board. She quickly sat back up and hoped no one noticed she hadn't been paying attention while getting herself back to the work they were on.

Allen gave the girl a strange look at the sudden change back to her usual self. He wondered what in the hell put her down so much to even block out the teacher. He noticed since she hadn't been copying the crap the teacher was dictating.

'I shouldn't have been getting myself depressed over the past!' Millerna scolded herself while furiously copying notes in her neat handwriting. Her brows furrowed and looked like she was concentrating on what she was doing instead of being angry at herself.

After a moment of thought Allen decided to let Millerna know the games had started. Millerna had gone back into a silence of watching as the teacher walked around explaining something about some war.

"Millerna!" Allen whispered causing her to glance back because of the urgency in his voice. "Why don't you just stop pretending?" He started off making her turn back around thinking it was a waste of her time. "Look girl, I know that this can't be the real you. There's no way you could always get the best grades and beat everyone else. You have some secret that your hiding and I will find it." Allen hissed.

Millerna stiffened, and her eyes widened as she stared at the board, at what he was saying. 'What the hell is his problem? Why is he picking on me of all people? What did I do to him?' She thought. 'He can't find out who I am really am! It'll ruin everything I've worked for!' She thought frantically.

"And then when I do you won't be able to show your face here any more and I'll make sure you don't forget the name Allen Schezar." He smirked. "This little perfect girl façade is gonna fall soon." He finished.

Millerna didn't look back and was trying to put back on a straight face after the shocking news. 'I can't ever leave my guard down now! I just pray he doesn't know where I live!' She thought again.

As the bell rang Millerna got up and began gathering her things. Allen caught sight of her frowning in thought and smiled evilly, knowing his words hit their mark.

**xoxo**

Celena rushed through the school grounds and was looking at her class schedule at the same time. Her hair was a bit sloppy from the run and her hands were holding her books since she left her bag in her locker.

'You'd think after almost a week I'd know what classes I have by now.' Celena thought scanning through the sheet she was holding up in front of her face.

Because of this distraction she wasn't able to see the back of the person in front of her path, so instead of her avoiding the person she ran into him. This caused her to fall back onto the grass and her two binders lay next to her hand, the paper she once held was at the person's feet.

The boy with silver hair glanced back at the force that had hit him and found a girl on floor. He fully turned around to see her and spotted the piece of paper at his feet. Reaching down he grabbed it to look it over before Celena could see his face.

Celena, who was still shaken up and trying to recover her senses didn't notice the person picking up her schedule. She glanced up to see someone there looking at her sheet.

"Oh, I'm so sorry." She apologized gathering her binders and standing up. She watched the person and cocked her head to the side when no one answered. "Um excuse me? Can I have my paper back now?"

Dilandau, who was smirking behind the paper and not actually looking at it, pretended not to hear her.

"Uh, hello?" Celena tried again thinking she might be late for class.

Dilandau finally removed the paper from his face. "Don't tell me you've forgotten me already!" He accused jokingly.

Celena's eyes went wide as she recognized the guy from the weekend who she barely got to help her out. "It's you." She said surprised.

"Ah, so you do remember me eh?" He said to himself, satisfied. "Am I really that charming that I leave you speechless?"

Celena smiled at what he was saying. "Well not really, maybe other girls act like that around you but I wouldn't know why." She said innocently. "And I can't call you anything other than that because… you never did tell me your name."

Dilandau grinned at her joke and everything else. "Glad to see I left you with an air of mystery. So have you been up all these nights trying to figure out who 'that handsome stranger' was?"

Celena laughed at the way he was trying to charm her. "Actually no, I was up all those nights trying to decide on what I'd wear on my first few days in this school."

Dilandau scanned over her. Celena raised a brow at this. She was wearing a pair of low-rise, hip hugging jeans with a tanktop. Dilandau whistled. "Doesn't look like anything's wrong from where I'm standing." He looked up and down once more. "Actually…" He walked around her and whistled again. "I think I like the back view better."

Celena however went on unfazed by Dilandau's attempt at flirting with her. "I didn't know all guys were so blunt when it came to girls." She commented, still with a raised eyebrow.

He shrugged. "They aren't. Most are too scared." Dilandau gave it some thought. "You haven't had much experience with guys I take it?"

"Nope, I just got out of an all girls' private school." She said normally.

"Ouch." He commented. "Actually I think I'd like to see you in one of those short, pleated skirts." Dilandau said still in thought.

Celena laughed again. "So now you're trying to be perverted?"

"Don't need to try much." He shrugged.

"Hey, you're avoiding the subject of telling me your name." Celena accused putting her hands on her hips, one of which was still holding her binders.

"I never actually agreed to tell you." He teased.

Celena gave him a mock glare and then pouted. "Why you gotta be so mean to me?" She said pretending to be sad.

"I'm not really trying with that either." Dilandau said again. "My name's Dilandau Albatou." He introduced with a mock bow.

Celena brightened at his name. "Dilly!" She cried out.

Dilandau gave a very confused look. "Dilly?" He questioned, almost disgusted.

Celena smiled at him and nodded. "Yes, that's what I'll call you from now on." She said happily.

He facefaulted. "Do you know what that could do to my reputation?"

"That's what you get for messing around with me." Celena sniffed. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'd like back my paper and I do need to get to class."

"Ooh, so you really are royalty huh?" Dilandau bowed again. He held up her paper. "So you really want this do you?"

Celena tried to snatch it from him but he was just too tall once it was above his head. "No fair! I can't reach that high!" She cried again. "Dilly." She added making him glare.

"But if I give it to you and you leave who's gonna keep lil ol' me company?" 'Dilly' questioned.

Celena stopped trying to get the paper and straightened her shirt. "Don't you have classes?" She arched her brow.

Dilandau shrugged. "I'll probably skip today anyway."

"Oh I get it. You're one of those guys who goes for the whole 'bad boy attitude' and then it makes you popular and great with 'chicks'." She concluded to herself.

"Oh no, you've got me all figured out!" Dilandau tried acting scared. "Now that you know the truth about me what will you do? Use it for blackmail?"

"Maybe I will, or maybe I'll just call you Dilly in front of 'all the important people'." Celena smiled.

"Do you really want this little piece of paper back?" Dilandau drawled out.

"Yes!" Celena said exasperatedly and blew a stray strand of hair away from her face.

"Fine, then you'll have to do me a favor." He said smugly.

"What is it already? I'll do anything!" Celena said getting desperate, knowing she would be about ten minutes late for her class.

Dilandau smirked. "Then kiss me." He declared.

"WHAT?" Celena shrieked. Luckily since no one was around so no heads turned in their direction to stare.

Dilandau had covered his ears from her yell. "Geez, no need to shout. I was just kidding." He said, almost apologetically.

Celena smacked him over the head and smiled. "That's not very funny then." She 'humphed' and turned away.

"Oh no! Please don't be angry at me your highness!" Dilandau bowed again. "I am but your only loyal subject awaiting any orders you may have, even if they are to use me as a sex tool." He said joking.

Celena turned back to Dilandau with her eyes shining. "Please just give me back my paper before I'm late for class and then I get detention or something!" She said crying with fake anime tears.

Dilandau had to take a step back, thinking that she was actually crying. "Hey, I didn't mean to... Stop that will ya! Here's your stupid paper then." He shoved it in her hands.

"Thanks." Celena said cheerfully.

Dilandau had to do a double take to see she really wasn't crying and realized she was faking it. "Hey, you were lying to me."

"Well I had to, this wasn't getting anywhere." She replied looking over her schedule.

"You act like such a good girl but you're not really." Dilandau said with a hand on his chin. "Maybe hanging out with you won't ruin my rep after all."

Celena glanced over her paper at him. "That's so nice to hear. Glad I'm worthy of being in your presence. Do you think you're in any of my classes?" She questioned folding the paper and pushing it in the back pocket of her jeans.

Dilandau shrugged. "We'll probably never know since I'm always cutting."

"C'mon Dilly, try and be a good boy for a little while?" Celena asked smiling.

Dilandau blanched at the name. "Don't call me that!" He whined. "Fine, I'll make you a deal." He said grinning.

Celena cocked her head to the side. "Hmm… ok, what?"

"I'll go to all of my classes, everyday of next week if…" He trailed off for suspense. "If you cut a few days of school with me."

Silence.

"I can't believe it, I'm actually considering this." She said to herself. "Alright, but how many days?"

"As many as you'd like. And once you get a taste of it you'll just want more." He smirked.

Celena smiled again. "Fine, but now I really gotta get to class. I'll see you around Dilly." She said walking closer to him. "Friends, right?"

Dilandau stared at her for a while before regaining his senses. "Fine." He answered looking away.

He stared as Celena made her way across the school grounds to her next class. 'That girl just might be the end of me.' He sighed. 'Or maybe I'll turn her over.'

**xoxo**

A long, frustrated sound was heard. Hitomi banged her head down on the lunch table and sighed. Her glasses making her feel uncomfortable in that position made her turn her head to the right to see 'the cool table'.

It had been another long and hard day of this hellhole called school. Luckily though Hitomi didn't have any classes with the monster, Van Fanel. She already had a project due on Monday, a pop quiz last period and been teased so much that her mind had just completely turned off.

As Hitomi's eyes slowly drifted down of their own accord, the devil himself smirked at seeing Hitomi glance in that direction.

Van was once again bored with people fawning over him and had looked around the lunchroom, ignoring the others around him. That's when he spotted the Kanzaki girl who just wouldn't shut up. She had her head on the lunch table and of course was sitting with no one.

He thought about why she looked so miserable but shrugged it off as 'it's a geek thing'. Then he decided to see what was up with her, meaning he was going to go and bug her until she turned red.

'I wish I were home in my bed.' Hitomi thought tiredly. 'Why does the school day have to be so long? This school is definitely much worse than my last one.' Hitomi unconsciously put one hand on the table and turned her head the other way.

Van discretely excused himself from the lunch table, getting a look from Allen and then casually walked around to a few lunch tables to check up on 'other acquaintances' before standing in front of the circle table where Hitomi rested. By then no eyes were really following him to see what he was doing and Allen had gone back to flirting with every girl he saw.

Van made a tsking sound while standing before Hitomi. She didn't react to it and acted as though she didn't hear anything. Van pulled up a chair from the table and sat down. He promptly propped his feet on the table and rested his hands behind his head.

Hitomi felt something make the table move and assumed someone had just bumped into it on their way. After a while of trying to sleep she groaned and figured it was no use. Opening on eye, Hitomi realized her glasses had fallen off and were near her hand on the table.

She picked her head up and rubbed her eyes to focus herself again. When she did remove her hands and blinked a few times to adjust to the lights Van stared at her. Hitomi yawned and put on her glasses.

Then she looked up to see the cocky grin and raven hair, Van sitting across from her. Needless to say she was shocked, and almost fell out of her chair too.

Hitomi glared at him. "What are you doing here?" She demanded.

"Just thought I'd stop by and say hi." Van said looking to the side and whistling suspiciously.

"And?" Hitomi probed him.

"Why are you being so untrusting Kanzaki-san?" Van said with mock respect.

Hitomi snorted. "Please don't tell me you think I'm that stupid? Kanzaki-san? Did the school lunch get you sick?" She joked and laughed.

Van looked up at the ceiling with his hands behind his head. "Well actually I did come here for something." He said in a gravely serious voice.

Hitomi started at his tone and narrowed her eyes. "And what would that be, Fanel?"

Van looked down and smiled suddenly. "See, I have something to do after school so do you mind doing my homework as a favor?" He asked.

"WHAT?" Hitomi screeched. "Are you stupid or did you really believe that was gonna work? I do not do others homework you bastard." Hitomi said angrily trying to keep her voice down.

Van smirked evilly. "What are you talking about? It's not that big of a deal." He shrugged. "I don't do this all the time though, it's just I hate math."

"Look moron, if that's all you came here to bother me with then leave." Hitomi glared at him.

"Aww, c'mon 'Tomi." Van whined and smirked when she began steaming at the nickname. He glanced at where Allen sat and winced at the high-pitched voices of the girls there.

Hitomi noticed this and grinned. "I see, trying to get away from all the adoring fans?" She saw Van begin to glare at her and remove his hands from behind his head. "What, being popular too much for you now?" She laughed at him again.

"At least I know about being popular unlike some unfortunate people." Van shot back.

"Are you pitying me now Van? Well don't waste your time." Hitomi leaned back in her chair. "I don't have time to worry about the pathetic social ladder for high school and being popular." She said stretching her arms above her head.

Van stopped glaring and put his elbow on the table and his head in his hand. "Why's that? Either you really don't care, or you're lying, or you somehow already think you're better than everyone else." He guessed.

Hitomi crossed her arms. "So what's your diagnosis doctor?" She sneered.

Van put a finger to his chin in mock thought. "From all my observations… I'd say… you're lying." He grinned lazily until Hitomi kicked him under the table. "Bitch." He muttered retracting his legs from near her.

"What did you call me Fanel?" Hitomi asked dangerously.

Van put his hands up in surrender. "Nothing ma'am."

Hitomi regarded him before turning away. A silence fell over them for a few minutes before Hitomi turned back to see Van was staring at her. She blinked and then moved to snap her fingers in front of his face.

Van jumped awake from la-la land. "Huh? Wha?"

Hitomi gave him a weird look. "Why were you staring at me?"

Van looked sideways and switched which hand his head was on. "Was wondering why you look so ugly." He said nonchalantly.

"Shut up!" She snapped. "How I look is none of your business." She sniffed.

Van smirked again. "A bit touchy on the subject eh? So tell me, do nerds actually care about their appearances at all?"

Hitomi stood up angrily just as the bell started to ring. "Fuck off Van, I hate you! Can you get any worse?" She yelled before stalking off to her next class.

**xoxo**

12 - 2 - 03 (I started it on some date and then left it for a while to do my Inuyasha fic)


	5. Chapter 5

**xoxo**

**Title-Are you stalking me?!**

**Chapter 5**

**By-Moon Prynces**

**xoxo**

The soft padding sound made was heard as a silver haired boy walked across the school lawn and stopped to look around.

"Could of sworn I saw…" He trailed off in thought, not caring the least about being late for another class.

A little ways further down the school grounds of Gaea high another student was hurrying along through the crowds of people. Her brown hair in it's usual bun bounced up and down as she picked up speed.

'Why am I always late for school on Mondays?' Hitomi thought clutching her books tighter to her chest and clinging onto her bag with the other hand so it didn't move too much.

Seeing as how her glasses would slip down Hitomi's nose she couldn't completely see where she was headed.

Dilandau turned around as he heard the loud screech of a girl on his left, near a few trees and flowerbeds. He walked closer and peered between a few of them to see a sight that made him start laughing.

There on the floor, sprawled on her back, Hitomi lay with swirly eyes. Apparently because her glasses were a distraction Hitomi ran into a tree and decided to take a nap… no, not really.

But I bet you all thought she would just run into Dilandau now huh? Well it popped into my head because the other idea seemed so cliché.

Anyway, after a few long minutes Hitomi regained her senses and was able to sit up holding her head.

"Oww." She groaned sitting up on the grass and forgetting about being late for her class. Then as her vision became clearer Hitomi recognized a sound in the background that she had thought was buzzing.

Hitomi finally used the tree to her advantage and got off the floor to look at the person to her right. She saw a boy with white-silvery hair who was bending over and hugging his stomach, laughing.

"Damn trees." Hitomi winced clutching her head again.

"Yeah, I'm sure they just put 'em there for people to run head straight into." A voice said with the snapping of fingers.

Hitomi looked up sharply to glare at the person, who was obviously being sarcastic. "Excuse me? Were you speaking to me?" She asked straining her voice from screaming at the guy.

Dilandau stood up straight and turned his head away, smirking. "No, there must've been another idiot who walked into a big, brown, clearly visible tree." He replied again.

"Shut up! And don't call me an idiot!" Hitomi snapped.

Dilandau slowly turned back to look at the girl in front of her. He looked a bit closely before realizing something. 'It's that girl that's getting on Fanel's case. I can see she has an attitude problem.'

"What the hell are you staring at? You're acting just like that 'big shot' Van Fanel!" Hitomi accused, seeing his look.

Dilandau arched a brow. "What would you do if I said I know the guy?"

Hitomi glared before turning to pick up her bag and books near the tree. Dilandau stared while absently reaching into his pocket and taking out his lighter. Hitomi glanced back when she heard the flicking sound and nearly fell over when she saw the guy playing with it.

"What are you doing?" She asked curiously. Hitomi watched as Dilandau flicked the lighter, which was only a few inches away from his face. "That's dangerous you know." She said raising an eyebrow at this strange behavior.

Dilandau looked up and stopped his habit at the girl's warning. "Do I really look that stupid?"

Hitomi was about to answer that with another remark but Dilandau stopped her.

"Forget that one." He said shaking his head. "So, how are you and Fanel getting along?" He said pacing a few steps around her. "Heard you two hit it off pretty well."

Hitomi huffed. "What is that any business of yours? You really must be friends with that jerk, you act like it." She said crossing her arms.

Dilandau pushed the lighter in his pocket. "Friends?" He laughed while Hitomi gave him a confused look. He shook his head.

"Who are you anyway?" Hitomi asked without the edge in her voice.

"Can't believe you haven't even heard about me." Dilandau said rolling his eyes. "You've been here for a week or two, don't you ever catch the gossip going around."

"Well I would listen to the gossip if it was ever reliable." Hitomi sniffed indignantly. "And since some it is probably about me anyway…" She trailed off.

Dilandau smirked. "Dilandau Albatou." He said smoothly looking away at the now deserted school grounds.

Hitomi glared at his 'high-and-mighty-attitude'. 'Let's see, wait I have heard about this guy…' Hitomi thought to herself. 'Some girls were squealing like pigs about… the bad boy and… that he's dangerous?'

Hitomi nodded to herself. "I have heard a bit about you. Some reputation, you seem pretty harmless to me."

As soon as the words left her mouth Dilandau glanced sharply in her direction and then before she knew it Dilandau had pinned her to the same tree she ran into and was standing next to. He had pushed her back into the tree and had his right arm against her neck. Hitomi gasped, surprised from his change of being laid back to threatening.

Dilandau grinned at seeing the girl shocked. Then he let go and moved back. He turned around and walked away a few paces before stopping to take out his lighter and play with it, ignoring the girl behind him who had shrunk down to the ground and holding her neck.

"Bastard." Hitomi whispered rubbing her sore neck.

Dilandau turned around. "What was that?" He threatened with a glint in his eyes.

"Forget it." Hitomi glanced at her watch and groaned. "Great now I'm like fifteen minutes late for class, what's the point in going if I'll get there when it's half over anyway?" She asked herself.

"Just cut then, no point like you said." Dilandau suggested absently like it was just that easy.

"WHAT?" Hitomi quickly got up from the ground and for the second time that morning picked up her books and bag that lay near her feet.

Dilandau turned around to look at her again. "Oh that's right, you're some nerdy little goodie goodie girl huh?" He asked raising a brow.

Hitomi glared. "I am not some 'little goodie goodie girl'!" She protested.

"Fine then." He smirked. "Skip this class with me and I'll show you the ropes around school, who to talk to, what to say to certain people, which teachers to avoid, maybe even have a word with the principle." Dilandau said breezily waving a hand.

"You know the principle personally?" Hitomi asked shocked. Then she realized. "Oh yeah, you must see him a lot with your reputation." She said thoughtfully.

"Hey it's not like I get caught for something every other day. Just like a few times on my freshman year and you're branded until you leave this place." He shrugged carelessly.

"So you're not really a bad person?" Hitomi stared at him in wonder. "Then why do you act like some 'bad boy'?" She asked again.

"Hey, who wants the reputation of being a nobody?" He asked angrily before calming back down and being nonchalant. "Besides it was fun to leave the janitor in that closet for a few hours and then breaking into the home economics room and getting rid of the cakes I didn't like. And my personal favorites, the fights. Someone's gotta be the moron and think they can stand up for something so I just pound them back down."

"That's wrong, you shouldn't just pick fights." She glared again.

"Did anyone say I cared?" He laughed.

Hitomi fumed. "You know what? Forget this! I don't have time to waste on you!"

"Doesn't matter." He shrugged and looked up at the clock on the nearby school building. "Classes are going to end in like ten minutes anyway. So you have successfully and accidentally just cut your first class." Dilandau smirked.

Hitomi on the other hand looked horrified. 'Oh crap! What the hell will everyone say and think about me? Will they call my parents? Will I get detention?' She thought frantically and groaned out loud to show her misery.

Dilandau regarded her carefully before turning to look in another direction. "What's your problem?"

"I'm so doomed." She groaned again and held her head making her glasses slide upward.

"You really are too tense. You need to loosen up more. Life isn't gonna last forever so why do you worry about every little thing?" He inquired giving her a blank look.

Hitomi blinked. "I'm… tense?" She asked pointing to herself. Then she huffed. "Well some people have priorities in life, thank you very much. We actually wanna get somewhere and achieve something so we work hard for it." She said emphasizing the word 'work'.

Dilandau glared shortly before grinning slightly. "Ok, so maybe I am a bit of a slacker but it's not like I want anything that bad that I'd actually work for it." He said with a fake gasp. "But I'm still not as tense as you. You jump at every comment and always have something to snap back when no one's done anything yet."

She gestured to herself. "Well as you can see everyone will always have something to say about me so I always have to be ready to snap back at them and defend myself."

"Then why don't you change so they won't have a reason to complain?"

"Why should I change just to meet everyone else's demands? I don't wanna be shaped just the right way for everyone else!" Hitomi started yelling.

"Hey, calm down girlie." Dilandau said holding his hands up in surrender. "Alright, whatever then."

The loud, annoying sound of the schools bell from the nearby building made them both look up at the clock. Hitomi looked mortified that the entire period had passed as she just stood there talking (and running into a tree). Dilandau looked bored as usual.

Hitomi ran past him without even leaving a farewell in her wake. She was now determined to get to her next class on time and was praying that no one would notice she hadn't been in her first class.

Dilandau pushed his hands in his pockets after watching Hitomi run like her life was on the line. He slowly stalked off behind the building to try and set some dumpsters there on fire and hopefully have school canceled when the fire trucks would arrive.

**xoxo**

The boy impatiently ran a hand through his usually disheveled raven hair. Van then sighed and looked up at the schools clock. He was sure this was the right time and place, so where the hell was Allen?

The school day was over and Allen had told Van to meet him at a certain spot at that time. So far his friend was around seven minutes late and Van was never a patient person.

Van decided to do something to pass the time, he might as well stay and wait for that idiot. He winked at a few girls who had been watching him as they passed by. They giggled and kept walking, Van grinned.

Van put an outstretched hand to rest on the nearby tree so it was his support. He flashed a charming smile at a few other girls that were leaving the school building.

Then quite suddenly a hand shoved him lightly forward, making him stumble and then fall head first into the ground. A masculine laugh was heard and a slight giggle from someone else. Van sat up and looked up to see his 'best friend' with amusement all over his face.

Then he noticed the girl standing next to Allen. She had light hair, almost white and light blue eyes. Van grinned up at her and then scowled when she only laughed at him instead of acting like any other girl would have.

"And who's this?" Van asked standing up. "Oh, and thanks for the help Allen." He remarked making Allen smirk.

"This is my baby sis, Celena." He introduced. "Celena, you remember Van Fanel, right?"

Celena smiled. "Yeah I remember a little. Nice to see you again." Then she turned to Allen. "I'm not still a baby you know." She complained.

"Of course not." Van said giving Celena a pat on the head. "He's just stuck in the mind of a six or seven year old and thinks you need his protection."

Celena smiled sweetly. "How about I show you I can defend myself by biting off your hand for acting like I'm a puppy." Her voice was still calm and kind… which made Van quickly retract his hand smiling nervously and Allen laugh.

"So where are we going now? Get fast food or go to your house?" Van turned to the taller blonde.

"Why wouldn't we go to your house?" Celena interrupted.

Van and Allen gave her terrified looks before shaking their heads at her ignorance.

"You do wanna live to see tomorrow right?" Van asked.

"Do I even want to know why you bring this up?" Celena shook he own head at their behavior.

Allen counted off on his fingers. "Besides the fact that they barely have enough food because him and his family are animals, it'd take us days to find our way around his room!"

"So, then just don't hang out there. You could watch TV in the living room, right? Or something right?" Celena kept questioning.

Van sighed. "Are you kidding, my family and I never actually find time to clean the house, not that we spend that much time there anyway."

"But doesn't your mom or anyone cook, clean, yada yada yada?" Celena moved her hands around to be the 'etc'.

Van thought a moment. "Nah, mom's especially fond of takeout. Anyway, thinking about food is getting me hungry. Where are we going already?" His impatience returned.

"Let's head to…" Allen trailed off as something in the crowds of people getting out of school caught his eye. "Actually I forgot something, I'll meet you two up at my place."

"Alright." Celena nodded and she and Van began to walk away.

"Just stay close and keep an eye on my sister!" Allen called after them making the two heads turn.

Van just laughed. "It sounds like you're trying to set her up with me, huh?" He called back.

Celena laughed and hit his arm. "Don't think you're my type." She said playfully.

**xoxo**

Allen looked around after seeing that Celena and Van were out of sight. He saw the familiar head and jogged to catch up, bumping into some people on his way. He didn't follow so close though so she actually didn't see him until they were about a block away.

"I'm not stupid you know, stop trying to hide." Millerna commented offhandedly.

Allen frowned and slowly walked out his place, following behind the girl, who hadn't one glanced back at him or stopped.

As they came to an intersection she stopped and whirled around. "Is there something I can help you with?" Millerna asked trying not to sound angry or bitter.

Allen walked up beside her and put his hands up in defense. "Hey, it's a public area, I can walk home if I want to, right?" He replied grinning.

'Who does he think he's kidding?' Millerna thought plastering a polite smile on her face. "I'm sorry, I've just never seen you take this route home before." She turned back to cross the street when the walk signal came on.

Allen followed her. "So, how were your classes today?" The blonde asked partly curious.

"They were all fine. We had a lab in science today." Millerna said still looking and walking straightforward.

Allen ran a hand through his hair. "Musta skipped that class yesterday." He muttered. "So, where are you headed now?"

"Home, need to study and I have other things to do." Millerna said shortly.

"Are you joking? We just got out of school! Why would you want to put yourself through even more work?" Allen questioned looking at her like she was insane.

"I have priorities and people I can't let down." Millerna narrowed her eyes.

'Yeah, right.' Allen thought sarcastically. 'She's probably only trying to be so prim and perfect to get everyone's attention.' "Hey don't we have a test in that class we have together…" He trailed off not knowing which class it was exactly.

"History?" Millerna suggested, filling the gap.

Allen turned and gave her a 'what-are-you-talking-about?' look. "Since when did I take history?" Allen thought looking up. No he's not showing off the 'dumb-blonde' look, he really doesn't care about school…

Millerna sighed for the first time the entire day. "Yes, I'm guessing you already had it before your class was switched to mine so why are you so surprised?" Even though she tried, Millerna's voice came out sounding a little irritated. 'I just wanna get home and get into comfortable clothes and eat some ice cream.' She mentally groaned.

"Yeah right, like I actually paid attention in class." Allen laughed mockingly.

Millerna made sure he couldn't see the disgruntled face she had on while continuing to walk. "Shouldn't you be home by now? I mean I thought you might also have some things to do." Millerna caught herself before she grumbled something out loud.

Allen thought about Van and Celena. Then a mental image of them both standing on the sofa fighting over a cookie popped into his head. He shrugged. "Nah, besides what kind of guy would I be just to let you walk home all alone? You'd miss my company I expect." Allen grinned.

Millerna rolled her eyes. "The last thing I'd miss would be you and your ego." She muttered.

Allen casually put an arm around her like they were buddies. Millerna stiffened and so badly wanted to turn around and kick him where… well you get the idea. She saw through the corner of her eyes though a few girls across the street that were in her math class and didn't move.

"Now about that test…" Allen began making Millerna sharply look up. "Well see I don't have any time to study so how about you help me out?" He asked cheerfully.

Millerna stared at him in shock. "What?"

"You know, give some answers when I need 'em, surely you wouldn't want me to fail!" He made a hurt face.

"You want me to help you cheat on the test?" Millerna asked still in shock. 'This guy really doesn't get it, does he? I can't believe he would even stoop so low as to ask me that!'

Allen removed his hand that was dangling on her shoulders. "Now now, that's such an awful way to say it. I'd like to think of it as the charitable help that Miss Aston would always show her classmates."

Millerna sputtered. "Are you joking?" She strained her voice to stop from yelling. "There is no way I'd ever help anyone, friend, enemy or 'classmate' just cheat off of me on anything."

Allen's face became stormy. "Oh c'mon, you've got enough brains to go around for the entire planet!"

Millerna was about to yell something back but bit her tongue, literally and instead said something quietly. "Sorry, but I can't and won't help you that way. Now if you'll excuse me I really need to get home." She quickened her stride and Allen was left glaring at her back.

"Geez, what a bitch…" He muttered.

**xoxo**

I have no clue but sometime last night I got the great inspiration to continue writing this. Or maybe it was the review I received a day or two ago. Either way I'm glad something snapped and made me finish this chapter. It had been left there for the while I hadn't updated but had done the first scene.

Sorry for the long wait. Hope the chapter was to your liking. The next chapter might take a while too. I keep saying I need to update 'Different Colors' but it isn't always so easy for me to get down to writing when I don't feel like it.

I still need to finish the chapter I started for 'Life's Way TOO Short' and really really need to update DC. I also need to figure out what to do with 'Gotta Love AOL' and 'I can make up my own mind!' I'm not sure yet if I'll continue them…

But I'm glad that in-between my 'break' that I did my first two one-shots. They're for Dorothy and Quatre on Gundam Wing. One's sorta angsty and the other's got them having a sorta 'lover's spat' but Duo's always being an idiot so he's pretty funny.

I really want to thank all you people who review and just plain read my fic(s). It's great to know you guys care and all and that one review was enough to make me write! But I don't want to depend on that; I want to write for myself too. I enjoy this and I know that you like it too. I don't want to need encouraging words and praise just to continue but it does help when I'm feeling down. I wonder if I'll ever be flamed…

Ciao.

1 - 31 - 04


	6. Chapter 6

**xoxo**

**Title-Are you stalking me?!**

**Chapter 6**

**By-Moon Prynces**

**xoxo**

It was a nice day, the birds chirping, sun shining and- Oh wait it's not. Allen hopped around on one foot while trying to eat his toast and put on his shoe at the same time.

"Come on Celena, we'll be late if you keep this up." Allen tried to yell; though it was muffled and barely made it to the other room let alone upstairs.

"I'm coming, I'm coming." She replied back running down the stairs and ducking into the kitchen before her brother could pull her outside.

Allen finally swallowed the toast after two bites and ended up falling over to choke. Celena hurried out to see what was wrong and had to hit his back a few times before it was gulped down his throat.

"Honestly, and you say I'm making us late. You won't be late if you're in the hospital first." Celena commented walking past him to put on her own shoes.

Allen slowly got up to continue his quest for the other shoe he couldn't seem to find. "I'm not the one spending half an hour to get an outfit. What are you dressing up for anyway?" He looked up from crawling on all fours to give her a suspicious look.

Celena only gave him a charming smile and tilt of the head. "What are you talking about? I've always taken this long to get ready. Maybe because I haven't been in this house long enough for you to get used to it."

The darker blonde finally pulled the missing shoe from under a rack of umbrellas and sat on the floor to put it on. "I still don't like those clothes you're wearing. I keep having to give boys warnings for looking at you the wrong way." His voice was stern and he looked up again to scrutinize her clothes.

The younger sibling just laughed nonchalantly. "Look, are you happy today? I'm wearing a nice white shirt that covers everything except from the elbows down. And there's nothing wrong with my black pants either."

"They still look too showy, like you're trying to impress someone. And why white? What if you get water thrown on you or something? Then everyone would have a full view of…" Allen trailed off becoming a little red as they started to walk out the door.

"I'll be fine. And I do have a gym shirt I could wear if something like that ever happened. But come on. Stop being so overprotective. I can take care of myself." She smiled.

"I know, you're always being so manipulative. Is that what they teach you in that old school of yours?" He gave a sideways look and grin.

"You make it sound like a bad thing." She said in a mocking ticked off voice. "And don't give me that. You shouldn't be talking." Her voice mocked again.

"What does that mean?" Allen inquired as they turned a block on their way to school.

"Well, first off you're the one who would've made us late. Too much grooming. And second, what would the girls at school say if the refined, cool, and 'oh-so-hot' Allen Schezar was seen crawling around on the floor looking for a shoe and with a mouthful of food?" Celena teased as they crossed a busy intersection.

"Hey, don't go there. You'd better not tell anyone about that and it was only that one time. You can't go around saying I'm some kind of slob. Van's already got some of that rep." Allen said waving his hands nervously.

Celena placed a hand on his shoulder. "Of course not, because what kind of sister would I be if I let rumors like that go around?" She sighed jokingly and then laughed.

"And Celena before we get there, I should warn you." Allen's tone became serious. "Look, I know it seems like I'm joking but you had better watch out for the guys around school. They're all looking for one thing and I don't want any of them doing anything to harm you, all right. Just don't get involved with anyone until I know first. I'll pick out the scum from the nice guys."

"Brother, I'm not a complete moron. I may have a pretty face but I do have brains underneath whether they know or not. And most will know that I don't mess around that way once they get to know me. So stop worrying."

Allen sighed putting a hand over his face. "Look, I know you can handle one guy at a time but what if they surround you or something? Just don't go around leading them on and fall into some trap. And don't get yourself a reputation like me or Van or anyone else. It may look like we're having fun but it'll hurt your grade and the people you hang out with."

Celena looked down and sighed again. "It doesn't matter. I don't really hang out with anyone anyway. I barely have time either. I still need to catch up with some classes and I can't even make it to lunch since I started here."

Allen, being the great big brother, put an arm around her shoulders. "Don't worry. You'll still have plenty of time to meet people and get friends. Maybe I'll introduce you to some girls I know."

"Actually," Celena said nervously. "You don't need to go that far."

"Why? What's wrong with the girls I know?" He asked defensively.

"Well… they're all sort of… airheads. I know I've only seen you around them but they seem and look like it." She said looking up as the school came into view.

Allen pondered on this for a moment before laughing out loud. "You know, I guess they are. Now that I actually pay attention all they really do talk about are cars and clothes and other useless things."

"Then why do you even talk to them?" Celena glanced up at him on her right. "Actually, nevermind, knowing you…" She trailed off ominously.

"Hey!" Allen said in indignation.

This was followed by Celena's laughter. 'And I was wondering when the big brother talk would come.' She thought.

**xoxo**

"I hate school." A bang was heard. "I hate my life." Another bang and the table shaking. "I hate everything!" She shrieked, causing half of the lunchroom to turn and stare, which only made her snap something back at them.

Hitomi dropped back into the chair to continue her brooding over the stupidity of the rest of the world. She sat in silence, with her glasses sliding down her nose every so often and her pushing it back up.

"Why do guys have to be such a pain in the ass?" Hitomi asked no one as she lazily supported her head with her hand, elbow on the table that had been banged.

"I agree with you." A firm voice said as a tray of lunch was set down across from her. A girl with long blonde hair, that was now tied in a ponytail sat down.

"Oh, hello." Hitomi straightened herself and blinked to remember the name. "How's it going, Millerna?"

"Oh, same old. Nothing ever really seems to change once the school year starts." Millerna replied trying to keep the tiredness from her voice.

"Yeah, but you were agreeing with something else I said, about guys?" Hitomi gave a glance around the room. 'Thank kami that bastard isn't here.'

At the same time Millerna gave the room a look over and sighed in relief. 'The blonde bimbo isn't here. He really gives blondes a bad name.' She thought smiling.

"Oh, were you looking for someone?" The green-eyed girl asked, feeling a little disappointed.

"No, I was just making sure… nevermind." She shrugged it off.

Hitomi gave a curious look. "Well I'm not trying to pry or anything but it did seem like you were looking for someone."

"I was just making sure my arch enemy isn't here otherwise I'd have to…" Millerna trailed off in anger as she broke a plastic spoon from her tray.

"I know how you feel. Is it that Allen guy you mentioned the last time we talked? How exactly does he annoy you?" Hitomi asked smiling.

Millerna looked up. 'Uh oh, not good. I'm not supposed to have a bad side, at least not in school. What am I supposed to say?'

A bunch of excuses crammed into her head but instead the opposite of them all came out when Millerna opened her mouth.

"He's an annoying little prick who thinks he's so cool. Oh, what an ego! I can barely stand to sit in front of that jerk! He asks me to help him cheat on this test or to do that worksheet for him! He has some nerve. If there weren't other people around I'd just..."

The blonde suddenly clapped a hand over her mouth when she realized her voice was growing too loud. She glanced around nervously and sighed in relief. Luckily the lunchroom was much too busy and loud for that outburst to be heard. Then she looked over at the questioning gaze Hitomi was sending her.

"What's wrong? Why'd you stop?"

"Uh, it's just… I don't really mean to speak ill of anyone." Millerna quickly covered up. 'Yeah right, I'd rather bash his head in.' Came a sour thought.

Hitomi laughed. "It sounds like you're guarding your words or something. What's so bad about saying how you feel? It may be rude and all but it is your opinion. You don't have to be so nice and polite around everyone."

"I'm not like that around everyone." The blonde responded quickly again. 'Well not around mom I guess…'

"You know… I was wondering…" The green-eyed girl trailed off looking down at her hands on the table. "Why are you sitting with me? I'm sure you have friends elsewhere that are waiting for you. Why would anyone sit with me anyway, let alone talk to me."

Millerna smiled and braced her elbow on the table and let her cheek rest in her palm. "Actually, I think it's fun sitting with you. It's refreshing I guess, to sit with new people who think differently." She then began taking a bite of her lunch. "Besides, I don't really have friends. I just sit with some girls from my class when I can, otherwise I'm busy with school work and stuff."

"Busy with school? You sound like the perfect student or something." Hitomi looked up at her.

Millerna gave a wry laugh. "You don't know the half of it."

"It's all right though. You seem like a great person whether you're trying or not." She smiled. "You don't need to tell me anything and you don't need to sit with me at lunch if it really is pity or sympathy or something."

"Oh no! It's nothing like that. You just seem so normal compared to…" 'Myself.' Her head said softly. "Other people around me." She finished out loud. "And I do enjoy talking to you. It's not like someone put me up to this or anything. You're a good person too, I love your personality. You like to say what's on your mind."

"Thanks, I think." Hitomi sighed and put her head on the table. "Guys are such animals. Why does one of the most arrogant ones in this school have to bother me all the time?"

"I know what you mean. I don't think I'm ever getting married or dating."

"You've never been on a date?" Was the surprised reply.

The blonde looked sheepish. "Well no, I've never really had time and although I have admirer's I just never feel like looking for romance just yet."

Hitomi nodded in agreement. "At least you seem likeable. Everyone just doesn't like me because I'd rather be alone than talk to snobby little bitches."

"I think you're fine. And I don't seem like a snobby bitch do I?"

"Oh, I didn't mean anything... I just..." Hitomi waved her hands nervously.

"No, it's all right. I think I do seem that way sometimes. I sometimes feel aloof and distant from everybody else. Maybe that's why I don't have real friends." She pondered out loud.

"Well admitting is the first step I guess. It looks to me more like you're purposely keeping your distance from everybody else." She glanced at the clock on the wall. "So I guess I'll see you around school and stuff. The bell's about to ring."

"Sure, I'll try to stop by when I have lunch. I'm usually at club meetings or helping teachers." Millerna smiled getting up to throw away her tray.

"See ya." Hitomi smiled and waved as she began to leave after the bell was heard.

Millerna grabbed her things and also began leaving in the opposite direction. 'Why do I act so normal around her? I think this might be my first real friend.'

**xoxo**

Flick. Flick. Flick.

"So, how's class, Fanel?"

Van shook his head. "How would I know? I haven't been to this one since last month. What about you?"

"Eh, same old last time I peeked in the classroom." Dilandau answered.

Van sat down at the base of the tree with his arms carelessly supporting his head. Dilandau on the other hand was sitting above him in the tree and flicking his lighter. They were both still on the school grounds in the shade of the tree, just not anywhere near their class.

"This is such a waste. I could be home sleeping. Why did I even wake up this morning?" The raven-haired boy asked himself.

"Cause you're a dumbass."

Van peaked open one eye. "Oh yeah? Then why'd you come?"

Dilandau looked up from his beloved lighter to the blue, cloudless sky. "Nothin' really."

Van closed his eyes again. "Ah, I see. Pyro's got himself a girl. I thought Allen was the lech around here."

The red eyes now glared downward. "Who said anything about a girl? Women are weak. I don't need them."

"So you say." Van shrugged lazily. "Just seemed sorta wistful for a second there. Never heard that side of ya, and I hope I don't ever have to again." He made a disgusted look, eyes unopened.

"Shut up, Fanel. Do ya hear me? Forget this, I need to see bigger flames. You don't they'd mind losing the gym, ne?" Dilandau grinned maniacally.

Van shook his head at the crazy pyro with a lighter. They both knew he'd never actually do such a thing, but he had his dreams. "Yeah, sure, go ahead. By the way, have you met Allen's little sister?"

Dilandau made a gagging sound. "Sorry, don't think I need to know two Schezar's in one lifetime. One's scary enough."

"Why are you cutting class anyway? Thought you liked having a free period." Van opened his eyes and sat up straight after deciding this wouldn't be the best place to nap.

"Ack, they're making us do work now. The room's just too silent, like it's a test or somethin'." Dilly shook his head.

"Ya know, I think it was a test." The other boy commented.

Dilandau went wide-eyed for a second before sighing. "Whatever, they'll just have me take a make up or something. Why would they give us a test when we haven't even learned anything yet?"

"Actually, I think it's just you that hasn't learned anything." Van laughed, making Dilandau growl.

"Loser."

"Bastard."

"Smartass."

"Better than being a dumbass." Van grinned.

The ruby-eyed boy shook his head. "Where do you come up with this stuff?"

"Weird family."

"Of course."

Silence.

"OW! What the-"

"Whoops, musta slipped."

Smirk.

Glare.

Mutter: "Dumbass."

Ignore. Silence.

"So how's the Kanzaki girl?"

"What the hell? Nothing interesting. Bugging her is getting old."

"So you're actually gonna leave her alone?" Dilandau gave a disbelieving look.

"Sure. All she does is scream like a banshee." Van shrugged.

He laughed. "Oh come on, she's pretty feisty. Doesn't seem like a dull moment with her around."

"You've met her?" Surprised look.

"Yeah, she ran into… Well yeah." Dilandau tried to keep the laughter from his voice remembering their encounter.

Silence.

"Well?"

"What?"

"How is your woman?"

Van sputtered. "My what?"

Dilandau smirked. "How familiar are you getting with the Kanzaki girl anyway?"

"What are you talking about? I'd never date her!" Van turned to glare up at him.

"You never date. In fact, I don't think you've ever been into girls. Don't tell me your…" Dilly grinned at the insinuation.

"Shut up Pyro! I'm straight you moron!" Van got up and yelled.

Unfortunately for him the outburst was heard in a nearby buildings' classroom. There, a green-eyed girl turned her head to look outside since her seat was right next to the window and on the first floor and because Van couldn't keep his voice low enough she overheard.

Hitomi glared angrily at the raven-haired boy who had yet to notice they had her full attention. Luckily, the teacher was busy writing something on the board or else would have chastised her.

"Whatever you say." Dilandau then kicked back his feet and leaned into the tree in the same position Van had been earlier, except that he was in the tree.

Van calmed himself down enough to finally sit back down, but was still glaring. "You shouldn't talk." He bit out. "Never seen you interested in girls either." He then went thoughtful. "Though there was this rumor that you were seen, not harassing, but actually talking to a girl civilly. And she wasn't swooning or yelling either. Is there some relationship Allen and I don't know about dear friend?" Van said grinning.

Dilandau scowled. "What are you talking about? Who told you that? Why I oughta..."

"Do what? It's just a rumor. So when do I get to meet your lady friend?" Van mocked in a humbled tone.

At first Dilandau went thoughtful, remembering the deal he'd made with Celena. 'I wonder what's up with her. Haven't talked to her in about two days.'

"Hel-lo?" Van asked looking up. Dilandau returned back to the real world. "So, were you thinking about her?" Dilandau went wide-eyed and started turning red in his shock. "Are you in love or something? Who is it anyway?"

Dilandau responded by jumping out of the tree and trying to punch Van in the face. Instead Van ducked his head to the left to dodge it.

"Hey, watch it. What's up with you, man?" Van questioned with a glare again.

Dilandau removed his hand and backed away. "Forget this. Besides, I think your girlfriends watching." He said looking over to the window where Hitomi was just getting up because the bell had rung.

Van stared for a second as she glanced back to glare at them both and then walk away. And then, Van and Dilandau went on with arguing over girls, except it was about not having, wanting or needing one…

This could get ugly…

**xoxo**

Tada!!! Another chapter!! It wasn't as easy as I thought; it took me about two or three days (ya know, cuz I had other things to do like clean and all, oh and sleep).

I don't think I like this one that much. I don't think there was enough humor, but I guess that was because my own life seems to be getting more dry and colorless.

4 - 11 - 04


	7. Chapter 7

**xoxo**

**Title-Are you stalking me?!**

**Chapter 7**

**By-Moon Prynces**

**xoxo**

A young girl slowly walked down the grounds of her school or as the principle called it, their 'home away from home' (which made the students shudder). The headphones she had on distracted her and she paid no attention to the other sounds that could barely be heard.

As Hitomi wandered around she pushed a button and tucked the CD player into her bag. Then she noticed that she had at least five minutes before next class started.

'Great, what'll I do now?' She thought leaning against a tree on the school grounds. Just as she was about the come up with something a parade of people marched by in front of her.

Hitomi blinked and looked to the right where everybody had run to, leaving dust flying in their wake. Then she realized. 'It's only that Allen guy being chased by his fan club.' She thought again sighing and slumping her shoulders.

Then as she looked up to move away she noticed that someone was standing in front of her and his right hand was helping him lean in on her from the tree behind her. She sharply looked up to meet Van's gaze.

Hitomi glared. Van smirked mischievously. Hitomi made to inch away but Van blocked her with his other arm.

"Why hello Kanzaki-san. Beautiful morning isn't it?" Van asked with a broadening smile.

"Move away from me." She said, barely keeping calm.

"Why should I? Don't wanna talk to me, is that it? I'm so hurt." The raven-haired boy said grinning.

"I need to get to class." Hitomi stated glaring harder.

"Oh come on, class doesn't start for two, three more minutes. Maybe you just wanna run away so you won't have to show me your ugly face and clothes."

With green eyes flaring she stepped on his foot with her sneaker heel. Van jumped away holding his foot till he fell over.

"Hey, what the fuck was that for?" He yelled holding up a fist.

"Why don't you just shut up about my appearance? There's nothing wrong with the way I dress. And there's no freaking reason that it could affect and bother you so much. Why is it that you find so much joy in tormenting me and only me? What did I do you anger you so much?" She let out in one breath.

Van stared blankly for a second before grinning again from his place down on the floor. "I can bother whoever I want. And yes, you're clothes do disgust me to the point where I have to say something. I swear, I don't know anyone who needs a wardrobe change more than you do."

Hitomi's face turned red in anger. "No one is going to tell me how to dress-"

She was cut off anyway by the arrogant Fanel. "I don't get you, don't you ever think of what a guy might say about those clothes? Besides me of course. Have you ever even been on a date? I bet no guy has ever liked you anyway." He said thoughtfully getting up.

Hitomi's fists clenched tight at her sides and her face was full of fury. "Now you're going on about my personal life?" She screamed, making people start to stare.

"You have a personal life?" Van asked in mock disbelief.

"That's none of your damn business!" She cried out and then tried to walk past him.

Van grabbed her arm and twisted Hitomi back to face him. "Why're you running away so soon for? Have I done something to offend thee?" He grinned evilly.

People were staring by the dozens now. Half the girls were drooling over Van and the other half were muttering nasty things about Hitomi.

Hitomi noticed this by now, with all the murmurs, and some not low enough could be heard. She tried to pull her arm out of his grip and make a getaway ASAP. She never liked being the center of attention, for whatever reason, even though it was usually an unpleasant one.

Van had other plans. For him, this was all getting quite amusing. How he loved to torture people. Allen called him a sadist but he just smiled and said it was only fun. With that thought in mind he went on.

"And what's with these?" He asked flicking at the glasses Hitomi had on. "I think its a few sizes too big for you." Van laughed, along with people that were watching. "It's almost like you're trying to make yourself look dorky to hide something. What? You're a rape victim who's trying to make yourself look ugly so no one'll do that again? Well, it's working then." He joked, making others laugh again.

Hitomi looked around helplessly and then tried again to tug her arm free and succeeded, but it only made her stumble back into a few people in the crowd that were staring at the display. They all moved away from her though, as if she was diseased, so she ended up falling on her back. Her glasses were lopsided when she picked up her head.

More people began to laugh furiously at what had happened, even though the bell had just given a loud shrill. To both their surprise (Van and Hitomi) her green eyes started to turn glassy as she hurriedly picked herself off the floor and pushed through the crowd to get away.

A few jocks that were near by patted Van's shoulders in a 'job well done' kind of way. A few girls sent kisses and winks as the students started to disperse and move to their classes.

Van Fanel stood there in the wake of everything with a blank expression.

'She was crying?'

**xoxo**

'Just wonderful, fucking wonderful!' Hitomi's mind cried out as she ran her way across the school grounds, not heading in any particular direction. 'Why did I get so worked up over that? Why did I run away?'

She finally slowed down after realizing she was hidden from view behind Building C and no one was nearby. Hitomi stopped and leaned her shoulder against a nearby tree, breathing hard.

She brought a shaky hand to touch her face and was shocked into place as she realized it was wet. So there stood Hitomi Kanzaki, half bent over, her eyes wide and hand barely in front of her face, when who else enters but…

"Looks like we meet again." A deep voice announced his presence.

Hitomi noticed where she was again and looked up slowly after pulling off her glasses to drop them on the floor with a lifeless pull of the hand. She stood up straight and looked at the unwelcome company in her midst.

Dilandau of course hadn't expected anyone to show up on this part of the school grounds, hence why he chose it when cutting class. But to see the Kanzaki girl show up was the last person he thought would wander here. Even more surprising was her appearance.

Her arm was a little red from Van's tight grip and her own struggling to get away. She was standing up and shifting her weight on her right leg and her arms hung at her sides loosely but her bookbag lay on the floor and was obviously open because the contents were spilled out near it. Her face though was tear-strained and her eyes looked less than empty.

"What the hell happened to you?" Dilandau asked cautiously.

Hitomi kept staring at him. 'No, not another one.' Her eyes may have looked dead but her mind was working frantically to get her away from people in general.

An awkward moment of silence stretched on.

After receiving no answer Dilandau gave Hitomi a hard, critical look. Hitomi started sweating nervously and wasn't sure if she should just run home or wait.

And then, a sudden flicker in his brain made 'Dilly' remember the playful face of Celena. Somehow her voice also found its way there. He could just imagine her scolding him for being mean to the Kanzaki girl because it looked like something was wrong. His mind went on to imagine Celena walking over and trying to comfort the other girl.

'Damn my conscience.' He thought viciously. Of course he didn't realize that he never had a conscience before meeting Celena…

"Uh… are you okay?" He asked awkwardly scratching behind his neck.

Hitomi jumped, surprised. She opened her mouth, about to say something but then stopped and closed it, shaking her head no and looking at the ground miserably.

The ruby-eyed youth hesitated. 'Don't just stand there!' Celena's voice came back.

"What's wrong? What happened?" Dilandau's voice asked again but with a little more emotion in it.

Hitomi looked up at him again, hearing his sincere voice, which also shocked her. She gave him a confused, questioning look, not sure if this was a joke or if she should trust him.

Instead of answering, she voiced a question of her own. "Why do you care?"

**xoxo**

A group of three students sat in a circle at lunch. One was slouched with her head in her hands and ignoring the other two.

The only male at the table sat with a bored look, flicking his lighter. And the last member sat straight up with her perfect posture and smooth blonde hair in a neat bun.

After Dilandau had stood there with a blank look for five minutes Hitomi suggested they move inside since it started to get pretty hot. Dilandau agreed and took the 'Damsel in Distress' to lunch where Millerna had been waiting and spotted the two come in.

She quickly recognized Dilly as one of the troublemakers from her old school before realizing that Hitomi wasn't looking so great. So now the wonderful trio was sitting here discussing the recent events while Millerna was trying to get Hitomi to eat something.

"I can't believe him. What a freaking jerk!" Millerna spit out angrily. She looked down at her new friend and spoke in a softer voice. "Come on Hitomi, you've gotta be hungry."

The sandy haired girl shook her head without picking it up to look at anyone.

"Hey, I'm hungry." Dilandau announced, trying to reach for Millerna's fries.

She quickly smacked his hand so he backed away. "No, none for you. You are one of the people that actually hang out with Fanel and Schezar." She said venomously.

Dilandau raised his hands in surrender. "Well it's not like I'm friends with them or we're best buds or something creepy like that. I just talk to them when they talk to me. Besides, our reputations are pretty much equal so it's like royalty talking to royalty." He grinned thinking about it.

Millerna hit his forehead with a spoon. "Oh shut up, you idiot."

Dilandau growled.

"I can't believe I cried." Hitomi moaned out in a muffled voice. "And in front of him too. I'm such a moron, I feel so stupid. Why did I do that?"

Millerna turned away from the ruby-eyed boy and to Hitomi again. "Oh, it's ok. It's not the end of the world. It was just all the emotional and mental stress since school started and his dumb bullying." She cooed, trying to make the other girl feel better.

Meanwhile Dilandau found his chance and had stolen Millerna's tray of food to gobble down the fries. She gave him a shrewd look before continuing with her previous case.

"Hitomi just eat something and we'll worry about this later. It's going to be worse if you don't eat something now." Millerna gave a side glance. "And hurry before Dilandau eats all the food I brought us."

"Hey! I saved you guys some!"

Hitomi picked up her head to stare. "That's only the salad. What am I supposed to eat then?"

"Oh, so now she's hungry when it's done?" Millerna muttered hopelessly. "Dilandau go get her something since you finished off what I brought."

He gave an annoyed look. "Hey, do I look like your servant?"

Hitomi narrowed her eyes with a bored expression. "Well seeing as you ate all my food… yea you are."

Dilandau grumbled something before getting up for the lunch line, which he cut. Millerna had a surprised look and Hitomi looked down as her stomach growled loudly.

"I can't believe he actually listened to us." Millerna stated, staring at where he once sat.

"Why?" Hitomi asked curiously.

"Well, weren't you listening? He's got a reputation just as bad as Allen Schezar and Van Fanel. He doesn't let people boss him around and is usually picking fights randomly. He does sorta talk to those two but he's not friends with them like they are with each other. I remember Dilandau from my middle school; it was the same thing there too. I've never really had to speak to him except for a project once back then. I'm shocked he was actually nice to us and your situation, let alone grace us with his presence." The blonde finished in one breath.

Hitomi looked over at the said person of topic who was pushing a kid out of his way. "He doesn't seem that bad…" And then she remembered her other encounters with him. "But then again… I see your point."

Dilandau approached them with two trays of lunch. "Here." He said banging them down and then seating himself. Hitomi grabbed a tray and started to eat, her hunger taking over.

Millerna and Dilandau gave her odd looks and sweatdropped.

"Honey, it's not going to run away so slow down." Millerna said cautiously. "You know I was thinking. Maybe you should take a few days off since you're getting so stressed out and stuff."

"Doesn't break start soon anyway?" The ruby-eyed boy mumbled.

Millerna frowned. "Yea, but the stupid school system still gives us school on Monday and the break starts on Tuesday. So maybe you shouldn't come on Monday."

Hitomi glanced up briefly to listen. 'She never usually talks so openly… or so rudely to anyone. But it seems so normal to her, then why didn't she just act like this before? Why doesn't she act this all the time?'

At that moment Dilandau was also thinking to himself. 'Damnit, why the hell am I sitting here with these two anyway? Oh fuck, I'm going soft aren't I? Shit, shit, shit.' He leaned back in his chair to stare at the ceiling. 'But maybe I started going soft since I met…' He shook his head. 'Why in the world am I thinking of her anyway?'

Millerna sighed after realized that her two companions were spacing off. 'I shouldn't even be here. What am I doing with these people? I'm being sincere! Something must be wrong…' She glanced at another table of girls across the room, the table she usually sat at. 'I should be there talking about nothing! But I can't leave Hitomi now. I thought it'd be easier not to care…'

**xoxo**

"Thank kami it's finally over." Someone said stretching above her head. Celena said her goodbyes to a few classmates she passed in the halls on her way out of the building.

Last period had just ended and she was leaving the dreaded school grounds for home. After a few minutes she reached the school gates where Allen was already waiting.

"You know, I can walk myself home. I'm sure you have many other appointments to keep, brother." She stated, and then looked around. "Where's Van, by the way? He's usually here with you isn't he?"

Allen ran a hand through his long hair and sighed. "I have no idea really. I haven't seen him all day." He then went into thoughtful mode.

"Maybe he just cut the whole day?" Celena suggested.

"But I saw him this morning, coming in." Allen shook himself out of his own world.

Celena looked around once and spotted something. 'I know only one person who has that hair color.' She shook her head. 'Who am I kidding? There's probably only one person in the world with that hair color.'

She turned on her brother. "Hey Allen, why don't you lay off the big brother act today and just go hang with your crew. I'll be fine walking home by myself, promise."

The taller blonde gave his sister a suspicious look. "I know what you're like Celena, something must be up."

Celena only giggled. "I think I hear Yuki calling you!"

Allen's head whipped around, and sure enough the brunette was waiting a few meters away with her friends and waving to him. Celena looked over his shoulder and sweatdropped.

'Wow, maybe I'm psychic.' She thought.

Allen turned back to her. "Well… if you're really sure you can take care of yourself."

"I've taken care of myself up till now in private school when you weren't there. I think I can handle this." She smiled and pushed him. "So go away and play with your friends." She said playfully.

Allen smiled back, gave his sister a kiss on the forehead and left. Celena made sure to carefully watch as he walked down the block. She then turned to a certain pyro who was sitting in a tree near the school gates exit.

Celena approached him slowly and quietly. Dilandau was busy flicking his lighter. Celena stopped by the tree and looked up at the sky.

"Beautiful day, isn't it?"

Celena was startled. "Hey, you knew I was coming the whole time didn't you!" She said accusingly.

Dilandau looked down with a maniacal grin that would've scared away anyone else. "And I also knew what you were going to say. I should get double points for that."

"Well, you're not getting a prize at all." Celena huffed.

Dilandau abruptly jumped out to land in front of her, which threw her off balance so Celena fell backwards into the tree with Dilly leaning in.

Celena gave a confused look. "What're you doing Dilly?"

The silver-haired boy growled and moved back. "Stop calling me that!"

"Oh come on, I know you like it. I'd do anything to have a nickname." She smirked.

"Well, that I can arrange." Dilandau grinned again.

Celena laughed and moved out of the way. "So how has your week been?"

Dilandau leaned his back against the tree and folded his arms. "Just fine. Now didn't you promise to cut some classes with me?"

She shook her finger. "Nope, I heard you weren't in all your classes you know. No deal. I thought you promised to be good this week but you broke it. I don't even think I can trust myself to talk to you ever again." Celena sighed.

Dilandau looked up and glared. "You're kidding right? Who in their right mind could stay away from me?" He said arrogantly.

"Oh Dilly, Dilly, Dilly." She said and was suddenly patting his head like a dog. "We really need to work on your manners and ego."

He growled again and snatched her hand so it stopped moving. Celena laughed and pulled her hand from his grasp.

"Ah, ah, better be good or else you won't be getting this back." She brought the other hand from behind her back holding his lighter.

Dilandau gaped. "Hey, gimme that!" He made a grab but Celena backed up and moved it out of the way.

"Come on now, that wouldn't be any fun." Celena said maneuvering her way around him.

Dilandau grinned and then lunged directly at her, making them both topple to the ground. Celena gasped as the wind was knocked out of her but held tightly onto the object in her left hand. Dilandau sat up so he straddled her while holding her arms above her head on the grass.

"Well look at that, you just became the prey." He smirked down at Celena who was glaring, although playfully and still struggling.

"No fair." She pouted, not paying any attention to their compromising position. "Just cuz you're bigger and stronger and…"

Dilandau stared as she dropped the sentence slowly and turned behind him to see what she was gazing at. Then when his guard was down Celena pushed him off her and quickly got up. So 'Dilly' was left in a mess on the floor.

"This was fun and all Dilly but I just remembered something I've gotta do." Celena looked down at him smiling and dropped the lighter into his hands.

Dilandau got up, folded his arms and huffed, carefully tucking away his prize possession. "Yeah, yeah, whatever."

She began to walk away and turned back just as he looked up at her. She waved and he made a face. Then she blew a kiss mockingly. Dilandau grinned and caught it. Celena laughed and continued walking away.

**xoxo**

Sorry for the long wait for this chapter. I don't think it was that great or was going to be long enough. I wasn't even planning to have Allen in this chapter but he did have to show up for Celena/Dilly scene.

And I know the characters are sorta going out of whack or something, but it's just the way things are supposed to happen so yeah, get over it. I know you all want Hitomi to break her glasses already so she can get contacts but don't stress, something'll happen… in about two or so more chapters… I really gotta update sooner.

Um, my life sucks. I hate myself. And I hope you like this chapter!

Thanks for all the reviews and encouragements to continue cuz I sorta forgot after I tried to write DC, which I still have yet to finish a chapter for.


	8. Chapter 8

**xoxo**

**Title-Are you stalking me?**

**Chapter 8**

**By-Moon Prynces**

**xoxo**

Beautiful blonde hair bounced as a girl cheerfully greeted everyone she knew as she walked down the school's hallway. Her demeanor gave away none of the thoughts that were actually swimming around in her head.

'I wonder if Hitomi's okay at home. I wish I could go visit today, if only mom didn't need me to stay for dinner with my supposed future husband.' She held back a sigh.

She was so caught up in her fake greetings to her classmates and half spacing off, Millerna didn't catch a glimpse of two important individuals making their way down the hall in her direction.

The blonde stopped by her locker and began turning the combination lock. Only when she looked up and caught the eyes of both boys did her smile finally drop into a grim line. She turned to face them as they stopped a few feet in front of her.

People around the scene could sense something was wrong. Most were baffled by what Millerna, the most admired and appreciated person in the school, could be doing by making contact with the complete opposite of the social chain.

"Why if it isn't Miss Aston." Allen drawled out mockingly with a bow. She glared at him.

Van didn't really care to take part in any of this. He was about to walk away.

"Where the hell do you think you're going?" Millerna suddenly yelled, realizing his intention to get away.

Van jerked back sharply to look at her. He was pretty sure he had never met this girl before or had a problem with her in the past, so why was she talking to him? She was even glaring at him with hatred, that couldn't have just come out of no where.

Allen was surprised as well, especially upon realizing that Van had gauged a greater reaction from Millerna than he had in the past week. And he didn't even do anything to her! At this thought Allen started to get annoyed, and maybe even a bit jealous...

The people around them, which wasn't enough to cause a great crowd, started to whisper in the background. Millerna, though getting a bit self-conscious, didn't back down. This wasn't for her, this was for Hitomi, her only real friend.

"What did you do to Hitomi?" She suddenly asked, causing Van's eyes to widen. Allen looked back and forth between the two and then remembered she was the girl Van was always bugging.

'What does that have to do with anything? Why is she making a big deal out of this?' Allen thought.

"Look, I don't know you, so don't start making your own assumptions." Van said coolly with a glare of his own.

"I don't need to make any assumptions. I know exactly what you did. Don't you care about what happens to other people when you act like such a jerk?" She asked angrily. "The same thing goes for your too, Schezar."

By now, the late bell had rang, but no one in the hallway moved an inch. Some girls who were in Millerna's math class were making shocked sounds and choking on their earlier words about how perfect and mild-mannered Millerna was. Another group, who were mostly gossipers started whispering that Millerna had gone out with Van until she found out about his real girlfriend, who was supposedly the girl (Hitomi) that Millerna was asking about.

Luckily though, none of the three heard this or else world war three would have broken out, along with their abundant denials on any of the things just mentioned.

They stood in silence, all glaring, Millerna with her hands on her hips and Van and Allen wondering why they were even still in the same space with this crazy girl.

"I'm sick of having to hear about all the things you did to her. Leave Hitomi alone." She side-glanced down to the floor. "I know I shouldn't be bringing this up, but I can't believe you actually made her cry! She doesn't deserve that." Came Millerna's powerful words.

People all around were surprised at her words. Sure she sometimes would intervene in other such cases to stop bullying or fights, but never on a personal level or with so much emotion.

"Why do you bother defending her? That little nerd isn't a big enough blip to bother me." Van said easily.

Allen stood stoically next to his friend, not wanting to get involved, especially now that he was so sour. He looked away from the semi-argument they were engaged in, to finally notice that people were staring.

"You had better listen to me. If you do one more thing to hurt her, I'll make sure you wish you'd been expelled." Millerna fired again. She wasn't worried in the least that they were probably more powerful than her.

The other blonde turned back to face her. "I think you should be going now." He said in a low, serious voice.

Millerna turned her glare on him once more. "What? Why are you telling me what to do?"

Allen walked up next to turn and turned his head to face her. "I'm pretty sure you just shot down that great reputation of yours." He murmured before continuing on his walk. Unfortunately his voice didn't hold it's usual cockiness, which it should have had since this is what he wanted. Didn't he want to chip away at the perfect frame that held her in place? Then why did his words come out as a warning?

Van saw the horrified look that suddenly crossed her face and snorted before walking off behind Allen. Millerna slowly looked around at the familiar, yet unfamiliar faces staring at her. For once in her life, she was the center of attention for all the wrong reasons.

Instead of casually going about her business, which would mean opening her locker and getting her needed supplies for next class and in the process getting stared at by everyone around her, Millerna opted for the cowardly approach, which was to scurry away from the strange gazes of her classmates and get to class to try and salvage whatever she had left of her reputation.

'But, this'll all probably have spread around the school by lunch so it doesn't even matter, does it?' She thought sourly.

Wasn't doing the right thing supposed to make one feel better? Then, why did she feel incredibly stupid?

'Because,' She realized as she neared the classroom door, knowing she was at least ten minutes late, with no logical excuse. 'I didn't think it through all the way. I didn't know I was going to lose something in the process.'

"Damnit." She said softly before springing a smile on her face as she pushed open the classroom door.

**xoxo**

The raven-haried boy was the subject of many odd looks as he walked into the classroom, at least fifteen minutes late. The teacher didn't bother trying to chaste him on punctuality.

He took his usual seat in the back of the room. He was still sore from the confrontation that had just taken place in the hallway by Millerna Aston.

'She has no business starting a battle with me for no reason.' He thought angrily. It took a few minutes to realize that the person they had been arguing about wasn't sitting in her normal seat. In fact, as he nonchalantly examined the rest of the room, she wasn't there at all.

'So this is how it's gonna be now?' He grinned to himself. 'She's gonna send someone else to fight for her? How pathetic.'

Van sat there in his seat after thinking these thoughts trying to tune out the teacher's ramblings, while also trying to keep his mind off of the brunette, which was the only reason he bothered to come to this class anymore.

He soon came to the conclusion that it was boring in here without anyone to bother. By now he had completely forgotten Millerna's earlier words, and started cackling at the thought of new torture methods.

This caused classmates, and even the teacher to start staring. The teacher coughed lightly to bring him back.

"Mr. Fanel, is there something wrong? Would you like to be excused?" Came the teacher's gruff voice.

Van laughed sheepishly at realizing he was caught being a complete idiot in the middle of class. "Uh, no that's alright." He said, hoping everyone would soon go back to what they were doing.

"Bet Allen would've loved to see that." He muttered to himself.

He was soon aware of the fact that his only purpose these days, especially in this particular class were to annoy the hell outta Hitomi. Now that she wasn't here he didn't have anything. This was not good, being dependent on someone, for any reason at all, was never a good thing to him.

'I wonder where she is anyway. What is she doing?' He thought to himself. 'She isn't one to cut school, so she's probably staying at home pretending to be sick.'

At that he remembered Millerna's words.

'I guess I wasn't seeing things that day. She was actually crying.' He thought numbly.

**xoxo**

A muffled groan was heard as a blanket shifted and the person wrapped inside moved in the wrong direction, causing her to fall off the bed in a very painful position.

Hitomi lifted her head to her hands. "Ow..." She turned to glare at the bed, and for once was not wearing her glasses. "Stupid, piece of..." She let the comment go, seeing as battling an inanimate object was not healthy.

She got up and went to the bathroom, where she proceded to brush her teeth and wash her face. After fixing her appearance to her liking she walked back to her room and glanced at the clock to see it was noon.

Hitomi stretched lazily and turned around to go downstairs. She wound her way around her brothers skateboard, roller blades, hockey stick, and helmet as she walked down to the kitchen on the first floor. It was lucky for her, her mother and brother left early and didn't get a chance to notice Hitomi hadn't gotten up for school at all. It was easier if they didn't know. The less questions, the better.

The green-eyed girl went straight for the fridge to look for some orange juice... and sighed as she picked up an empty carton.

'I'm so glad I listened to Millerna's advice and stayed home today. And thank god we don't have school the rest of this week.' She thought to herself, taking a box of cereal out of the nearby cabinet and pouring it into a bowl.

She noticed that her class must have ended by now, particularly, her class with that arrogant jerk, Van Fanel. She shook her head, there was no use in thinking about it.

Athough, no matter how much she tried to avoid thinking about him and the last time she was near him it still came to mind. And she couldn't help but beat herself up over and over again for being so weak in front of him and hating herself for crying.

Hitomi slumped down in her seat at the kitchen counter after finishing her cereal. 'I just can't believe it. I've had to deal with that type of thing for so long I thought it wouldn't affect me anymore. I thought I was immune to all that childish behavior. Oh, why did I cry?' She wondered hopelessly.

Finally, she got up and walked to the living room to watch some TV. Of course though, this didn't stop her mind from wandering around.

'I wonder if he even came to class today. He's probably failing anyway so I don't see the point.' She said, snickering. 'I hope Millerna didn't have to run into him, or that Allen guy that's been bugging her.' She thought, not knowing how far from the truth she was.

**xoxo**

A white-haired teen cautiously stalked the halls of the school, not showing any emotion. He knew exactly where he was headed. He just needed to get there before class ended and she tried to run away. Luckily he had left his own class early, and didn't give the teacher a chance to get a word in.

He wasn't even sure how he knew what class she had, maybe he had unconsciously been paying attention when he roamed the hallways. He sighed getting to the right door and leaning against the wall next to it, waiting for the bell.

As the loud shrill echoed through the six buildings and across campus, people started jetting out of the rooms. He waited until the blonde hair came through the doorway before pushing off the wall.

Dilandau carefully walked a good distance from her. "We need to talk." He muttered under his breath so she could hear.

Millerna nodded slightly, but not enough to arise suspicion, especially since most of her classmates were eyeing her in a weird way. She didn't dare look anybody in the eyes or wave, or make small talk like usual. She walked straight out of the building and turned a corner to a shady, secluded spot near a tree. She waited a few minutes, knowing Dilandau wouldn't want to make this bigger than she did so he would play it safe by not following directly.

Soon, the red-eyed troublemaker rounded the corner to stop in front of her.

"What happened today?" He growled, crushing his lighter in his grip while holding it in his pocket.

Millerna's gaze moved off to the side, as she wasn't sure how to answer this.

Dilandau was getting impatient. "What did you do?" He near-yelled.

Millerna sighed and looked back at him. "I don't know." She said desperately. "I don't know!"

Dilandau sighed too. "I've been hearing rumors about how you blew up at Fanel and Schezar in the hall today. At first I thought it was a bunch of crap until I ran into Allen who told me about this encounter." He said lowly.

Millerna nodded to herself.

"Why are you making this a big deal? So what, Kanzaki broke down, but it's over now. Stop bringing it up in front of them."

"What's worse is I actually lost my cool. Now everyone is giving me looks like they don't know me anymore." The blonde said to herself.

The boy looked at her sharply. "I can't believe I'm gonna say this, but what the hell are you thinking? Why are you worrying about your rep when you should be thinking about how this is gonna affect Hitomi when she gets back to school next week?" He shouted at her.

Millerna snapped out from the vision of her once perfect life. "Hitomi?" She said out loud in a small voice.

"Yes, Hitomi Kanzaki, the girl you were supposedly defending, at least that's the way it sounded from what Allen said. Now you're standing here thinking about yourself and your social status! You can't be the same person." He said shaking his head in disgust.

Millerna's face turned to one of a horrified look. "I... I didn't mean to..."

Dilandau just gave her an annoyed look. "For someone so smart, you'd think you figured it out by now." He muttered. "You're gonna lose something Princess." He said turning and walking away, leaving Millerna to her frantic thoughts.

She looked up and watched him leave. She watched as more students hovered around the shool front gates. Monday was over and now there was a school break for the rest of the week.

'I'm so sorry Hitomi! What did I do?' She thought to herself, turning around and walking to the much less used, school back entrance, even if it would take her a longer time to get home. It's not as if she wanted to face another suitor brought on by her mother, and she needed time to think.

**xoxo**

The white-haired youth trudged on forward, muttering to himself, his hair shown silver in the sunlight. He didn't bother acting tough by pushing around helpless students like he usually would as he walked out of the school gates. And it was lucky for them, most students stayed clear of his path.

After getting a block away from the school, and going in a direction he was sure no one went Dilandau was thrown off guard as a very light person tackled him from behind. Fortunately though he didn't fall over onto the ground (did I mention the person was light?) with the extra weight hanging onto him from the back.

He growled and turned his head to see a bright, smiling face, who laughed at him and let go to stand on her own.

"Why hello Dilly!" Celena said, smiling up at him, which made her finally notice much taller he was than her.

The other growled again and kept walking, ignoring his unwanted companion.

Celena looked on curiously, not sure what to do. As he reached the length of two houses away, she ran after him.

"What's wrong?" She asked, concerned. To her, this seemed like an odd question to ask him. She knew he was probably one to get into fights and all sorts of trouble but she never thought he could get injured from them or anything. In her mind, she had put him on a pedestal, like a role model, but mostly as someone she admired. In a way it was because he seemed like her, only on a much larger scale.

Dilandau glanced down at the girl trailing a little ways to his left. There was no point in putting her through hell or making her feel inadequate. Now this was a truly strange thought, since Dilandau usually didn't care whether he was making someone feel awful or anything at all. But he failed to notice the flux in his behavior.

"Nothing's wrong." He replied in a gruff voice.

"Oh come on." She said switching sides, so she was now walking on Dilandau's rear right. "Maybe I can help you. You look so down." She said in an I-already-noticed-it-so-don't-try-to-hide-it way.

"What do you want anyway?" He growled again, getting defensive.

Celena looked at him carefully but went along with his change of topic. "I don't know, where are you going?" She asked, somewhat curiously.

"To smoke." He said curtly, hoping she would get the hint and leave.

"But you could have done that anywhere." She pointed out. "So where are you going?"

"Maybe I'm going home and the location is top secret and you're not supposed to know so I'll walk around in circles until you finally leave me alone." He said, looking over to see her reaction.

"Okay." She agreed smiling. The girl matched his stride and didn't say a word after this, mostly because he hadn't said anything back to her. Slowly her smile faded and she started to doubt why she was still here with him.

The ruby-eyed troublemaker noted the weary look on her face and stopped his stride completely, causng Celena to stumble trying balance herself.

"Why are you still following me? Look, I've had a bad day. I don't have the time to deal with you right now." He said outright, going back into his old routine, which consisted of not caring about others feelings.

Celena glared. "I don't know. I just didn't want to go home and do absolutely nothing with my family. There's already a big empty week of nothing in which I'll have to be in their presence."

"So you planned on following me around like a puppy?" Dilandau sneered.

"I have nothing better to do, and I obviously thought you wouldn't mind." Celena argued back. She didn't want to add the last part that came to mind. The part in which she actually thought they were kind of like friends, in case he laughed at her.

The boy examined the girl in front of him carefully. He finally deduced that thinking was a waste of time and he was tired of it. So he quickly, before Celena realized it, pushed her up against the wall behind her with his body and pressed his lips to hers. This, was what he thought would solve his problems at this point in time... if only it had been any other girl...

**xoxo**

"Millerna? Millerna!" A voice echoed through the spacious living room, up the stairs and reached through the walls of every bedroom until the said girl was brought down to earth from her daydreaming.

"I'm coming mother." She said, barely getting the words through the wall and back down the stairs.

It took a moment before Millerna realized that their guest would be arriving soon and she hadn't even had a shower and gotten dressed in the outfit her mother had told her to wear. She quickly stood up, grabbed a towel and ran to the bathroom, slamming the door in the process.

'Oh shit! I was sitting there for at least three hours! I should've gotten ready and helped mom downstairs with the cooking and cleaning and-'

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a bell. The doorbell, that is.

Millerna shrieked and a loud bang reverberated through the house. Her mother, Arianna, opened the front door to greet their guest with a smile, not sure what had happened upstairs. As much as she wanted to check on her daughter, she was too busy trying to please a possible son-in-law.

About twenty minutes later Millerna stumbled down the stairs and tried to make a graceful entrance to the living room where her mother and their guest sat talking. Unfortunately she still carried a disoriented look on her face.

"Millerna! I was wondering if you'd be joining us today." Arianna said joking.

The man sitting across from her nodded with a half grin and stood up with his hand outstretched. "It's so good to finally meet you, Millerna Aston. Your mother's been telling me about you."

Millerna uncertainly took his hand to shake it politely. "It's nice to meet you..."

"Dryden Fassa."

Arianna watched the two for a moment and then realized the conversation wasn't continuing. Dryden was discretely studying Millerna's appearance, while she shifted uncomfortably under his gaze.

"Well, why don't we go into the dining room and start dinner?" Arianna said cheerfully, getting up and heading in that direction.

Before following, Dryden gave Millerna a curt nod and another grin. Millerna sighed, too tired to care about what was happening.

After everyone sat down at the table Arianna commenced in conversation with Dryden, trying to see what kind of person he was and hoping Millerna was paying attention. The blonde girl was pretending to eat while pushing food around on her plate.

"...Millerna?"

Millerna blinked looking up at the two expectant faces. She had no idea what was said or what to say. Her proper etiquette and behavior was failing her. She faintly remembered that this was for her mother, to make her happy. Millerna knew that her mother wanted her youngest daughter to have a good life with a wonderful husband who was wealthy enough to make her happy. She tried to recompose herself.

"I'm sorry, what did you say?" She asked with a small smile.

Arianna and Dryden exchanged some kind of look. "I was just asking about your school." Dryden reiterated. "Especially since I'm already in college. I seemed to have forgotten what it was like for me."

Millerna resisted rolling her eyes. This was exactly what she didn't want to think about right now. Her head hurt from thinking so much the entire day (and from tripping on soap in the tub).

"It's the same as any other high school. Tests, clubs, student government. Nothing has changed really." She said nonchalantly.

"Huh... so how are you doing in school?" He asked again.

Arianna jumped in to show off the accomplishments of her talented daughter with the occasional 'she's too modest to tell you herself'. Dryden nodded smiling while trying to catch Millerna's eyes every twenty seconds. After the speech he continued with the interview.

"So then, what field are you planning on working in once out of high school and most likely college?" He said leaning in out of curiosity.

'What does it matter to him anyway?' She thought sourly. And then the impact that this conversation might have on her future hit Millerna. If things went the way they were supposed to, she might be married by next year.

She sat there with wide eyes, her hand still holding a fork with food on it. 'But this isn't what I want.' A part of her thought. 'But don't you want to make your mother happy?' Another voice said. 'Then where does my happiness lie?' She thought again.

The horror-struck look and the chair on the floor alerted the other two members at the table that something was wrong. Before they could stand up to help her, she fled from the room and pounded up the stairs to her room.

'Wasn't I trying to help?' She thought as she ran up the stairs. 'Wasn't I trying to help Hitomi and now my mother? Why isn't it working out the way it should? I couldn't help Hitomi because I kept worrying about what would happen to me. And now when I should be thinking about myself, I'd rather let my mom choose my future? What's wrong with me?' She asked herself angrily staring into the full length mirror in her room.

**xoxo**

Okay, I finally got back into the spirit of writing and here's the chapter that I know you all hate me for not writing sooner. As a bonus, because I realized I hadn't updated in about a year, I gave you that scene with Millerna and her mother having dinner with Dryden. It actually didn't exist or ever occur to me to include Dryden until I remembered I made Millerna say she was busy with something so she couldn't go see Hitomi. I decided to write a scene for it, just to give you guys more.

This chapter was kind of conflicting I think. I don't think there was much humor or anything, just a lot of thinking and stuff. Also, the scenes all kind of went haywire, example: I didn't mean for Dilly and Celena to start making out in the middle of the street or anything. And I didn't know Millerna would have these weird feelings about the way she's changing as a person.

So, I hope I satisfied you guys. I'll try to update the next one sooner than I did this one. From time to time I update my profile to say what I'm working on at the moment. If I'm taking too long, check there to see what's up or to write me an email.

7 - 22 - 05


	9. Chapter 9

**xoxo**

**Title-Are you stalking me?!**

**Chapter 9**

**By-Moon Prynces**

**xoxo**

A blonde lunged for the phone as if it were her lifesaver... only it hadn't been ringing. Then, after a few seconds of scrunching up her face in thought she started lightly knocking her forehead with the object she now held. It was a good thing she was in the comfort and safety of her own home.

"I know this! I know I do!" She said the herself, trying to remember something.

"Millerna, honey? Are you okay in there?" Her mother called out from the kitchen. Arianna appeared in the hallway, looking at her daughter who was still holding the phone.

"Oh, I'm fine." She gave a nervous smile. "I'm just... trying to remember the someone's phone number."

"Okay." A cautious glance was given. "Well, I'll be leaving for work in ten minutes. I made you some breakfast for you."

"Thanks mom." Then she went back to staring down at the phone as if it knew the information she was seeking.

Arianna gave her daughter another look. "I would've thought you'd sleep in today, since there's no school till next week." She commented, walking back to the kitchen. "It's so early in the morning. Do you have something planned for today?"

"Kind of." Millerna said, once again smacking her head with the phone. And then, it suddenly stopped as a light bulb went off above her head. "YES! I remember!" She yelled in pure joy.

Arianna once again stuck her head out in the hallway. "Huh?"

"Nothing mom! I'll have that breakfast now." Millerna said, skipping to the kitchen, still holding the phone.

**xoxo**

A form on the bed yawned and turned over, not caring as a part of the blanket fell on the floor. Drool slowly dripped on the pillow, as his mouth was wide open and snoring.

And then someone snuck in the room with a frying pan and a spoon. The person started to bang the pan with the spoon harshly.

Though a normally irate person, Dilandau completely ignored this routine and kept on dreaming. The person left the room mumbling something about leaving for work now.

Only five minutes later, after the front door had slammed heavily, signaling the person's departure, did the phone start to ring incessantly. This is where Dilandau started to get annoyed, and also a bit curious as to who would be calling him this early in the morning, on the first day of their mini vacation from school.

Unfortunately for the caller, he didn't budge an inch. When the phone stopped ringing, and it certainly took a while, he finally got up to... use the facilities.

When the silver-haired boy returned to his room, still groggy and bent on continuing his slumber the phone began to ring again. Before realizing what his treacherous body was doing he found the phone in his hand and had no choice but to utter something vague.

"Hello? Is this Dilandau?" Came an unknown female voice.

This woke up the boy further and his brows came together in confusion. "Uh... what?" Was his only response.

"Dilandau? Is that you?"

He just stared at the phone before an explanation was given.

"It's Millerna, you twit." She scolded him lightly.

Dilandau would've laughed at this, that someone was able to call him that without him getting angry because he was too sleepy, but that's exactly why he didn't laugh.

"Wha-? Why're you calling me? How'd you get this number?" He questioned after the first few moments of silence.

Millerna laughed on the other end. "I remembered it from a long time ago. I was calling to see if you wanted to come with me to visit Hitomi."

He made a face at this, bewildered at why she would ask such a question. Then he remembered she couldn't see him. "Why?"

"To check up on her-"

"Why me?" He asked again, quickly cutting her off.

"Because for a day, you were her knight in shining armor." Her voice was amused. She also heard him make some kind of sound on the other end, but no response. "Yes, I know, it was a surprise to us all. It actually seemed like you cared. So do you want to join me or do you have something so terribly important that you need to do today?"

"No, fine! Whatever. I remember where you live." He said carelessly. "But couldn't this have waited till sometime, you know, past noon?"

Millerna laughing was the last thing he heard before she hung up and he grabbed a towel, grumbling all the way to the bathroom, yes, all five steps it took him.

**xoxo**

A snort of disbelief was heard as two boys sat on different sofas in the same room, staring mindlessly at the television in front of them. The coffee table was littered with bags of chips and bottles and cans of soda and one or two beers, some empty and others yet to be opened.

When the commercials came on Van would look to Allen and Allen would look to Van, and then Van would attempt to throw a cheese ball into Allen's mouth, because he opened it, meaning he requested it. This was just because they each held an open bag of a different snack and were too lazy to get up and switch, so they chose to throw the food at each other, hoping it would make its mark.

Unfortunately Van had thrown at least seven cheese balls this commercial break and none had made it close. They kept hitting Allen's eyes (he closed them though) or his hair or his cheek. In the process a mess was steadily growing on the floor and couch. Allen had a suspicion that those shots were aimed badly on purpose because he knew his best friend had great aim.

When the show came back, both males stared intensely at the TV. A narrator's voice saying '...and now we continue with our discussion of the male and female sex organs and the question, where do babies come from?'

A click was heard and they both looked up to see an irritated Celena standing there with the remote in her hand and a blush on her face. "Are you two that stupid?"

"Hey, there was nothing else on!" Allen argued.

"And why are you guys lounging around, making a mess?" She asked again, glaring at them both with her hands on her hips.

"Nothing to do." Van responded before shoveling more food into his mouth.

"It's a great day outside. Why don't you come with me to the mall?"

They exchanged looks that were not comforting. "Yeah, right. The day we go to the mall with a female-"

Allen never finished as Celena had thrown the remote control at his face and stomped out the front door, slamming it shut. Van looked to his friend who was twitching slightly.

"At least she's gone now."

**xoxo**

"How about we go shopping! That always cheers me up!" The blonde said exuberantly. The other girl just groaned in her bed, the sound muffled by the pillows she was lying head first into. The only boy there sat backwards on a chair in the corner of the bland looking room, not saying anything since he first arrived.

Truthfully he didn't mind the current situation because he had absolutely nothing to do anyway. It was almost entertaining, to a degree, as he watched Millerna tug at the pillow Hitomi was clutching. A fight ensued as the tugging become violent, and Hitomi finally let go so Millerna fell down on the floor. And as the green-eyed girl laughed the other picked the pillow up and swung it into her face, causing her to fall off the bed.

But when Dilandau started laughing at the scene, both girls picked up a pillow and tried to smother him with it and soon he was on the floor gasping for air.

"Are you trying to suffocate me?" He yelled at the them as they let up and stopped. The girls just laughed and gave a high-five at the victory.

"You win Millerna, I'll get ready now." Hitomi said laughing as she grabbed a towel and moved to her bathroom.

"Why would I want to go to the mall with either of you?" Dilandau asked tentatively, sitting up from on the floor.

Millerna just hit him with the pillow again.

**xoxo**

"So now what?" A male voice spoke up, him and his companion both staring at the TV that wouldn't work.

"I dunno. We could try hitting it again?" Allen suggested.

Van shook his head. "Nah. My arms and legs are sore." He responded, draping them over the couch lazily.

Silence prevailed through the room for a few moments. Then...

"So how's school?" Van asked lightly.

"How would I know?" The other answered.

Van shrugged slightly.

"How's school for you?" Allen reversed the question.

"It's... exhausting." And a sigh.

The blonde nodded. "Same here."

More silence.

"Women are weird."

Another nod. "They're really confusing alright."

"Hm... why do they act that way?"

"One minute they want one thing and then the next it's the complete opposite."

**xoxo**

"Fine, just go to the food court or something. We don't need you anyway." Millerna said stiffly, shooing away Dilandau, who had been whining since before they left the house.

The boy quickly agreed and left with the thoughts of some fries and a cheeseburger in mind, and defintely not looking back.

The two girls watched as he fled. One laughed and the other sweatdropped.

"So, what should we look for first?" Millerna asked the other girl.

Hitomi stared. "I can't. I don't have any money on me. I only came cuz you forced me to." She smiled unsurely.

"That's okay! I've got enough for us both." Millerna smiled too.

"N-no! I couldn't do that!" Hitomi stuttered out, her glasses slipping down her nose.

"Too bad, cuz it's not your choice!" Millerna, still smiling, dragged the girl into a first store she spotted.

As the two searched for items to try on, Hitomi moving uncertainly, Millerna noticed something. She walked over the other and pulled off her glasses.

"Hey! What're you doing?" She complained, trying to get the glasses back.

"You have such beautiful eyes! They're so bright and green." Millerna said staring at her... friend. "You shouldn't wear these. For some people glasses enhance their beauty but they only hide yours." She stated.

Hitomi stared at her. "But-"

"What? Do you need contacts? Should we go get those first?" The blonde asked quickly, thinking out loud.

"No, actually, I can see pretty fine without them..."

"Then why do you wear them?"

She thought this over. "I remember a few years ago that I needed them to correct my vision or something... I guess I just never realized that I didn't have to keep them on forever..." She trailed off and the other girl smiled again.

**xoxo**

"So, how goes the girl hunt by the way?"

Van stared and slowly started to turn pink at the question. "What?" He blurted out.

"You know, I told you, you need a girlfriend. You're always so busy planning revenge on someone or pulling a prank or bullying that new girl. You need someone who'll help you tone it down a bit on the work." Allen grinned.

Van moved forward and let his elbows rest on his legs. "I don't need a girl. They're nothing but trouble."

Allen grinned suddenly. "Am I to understand that you've never liked a girl before? Never even kissed one?"

Van glared at his friend. "We've known each other for so long, I thought you would know the answers to those questions."

"How would I? You always keep all those things confidential."

"You only think that cuz you're busy flippantly declaring your love for every other pretty girl out there and you hardly resist the temptation to make-out with any of them, even in public." The raven-haired boy stated.

"So is that a yes or no?"

"It's a mind your own business."

A bit more silence passed.

"Of course I've liked girls before and kissed them!" He finally admitted and the other grinned victoriously.

**xoxo**

"Hey, this would look perfect on you!"

The brunette sighed. "Shouldn't you be looking for your own clothes? So far we've only got things for me. I don't need all these clothes Millerna! It's an entire wardrobe."

"Come on, don't you want a new look to go with a new attitude?" The blonde persisted.

Hitomi faltered. "New... attitude? What for?"

A determined look crossed the other's face. "To show that pompous asshole, Van Fanel that you're not gonna take his crap anymore."

"...in a miniskirt?"

Millerna looked down at the item in her hands. "Uh... maybe... another time then." She finished.

"Thanks."

Millerna looked up at the girl next to her, who was still looking through a rack of clothes. "For what?"

"For being a real friend to me. My only real friend since I moved here."

The blonde looked back down. "It's nothing. I think we could even consider Dilandau a friend. I know beneath that bad boy, pyromaniac exterior and jerkish behavior... and very, very deep down, there's a mile thick wall that blocks the heart of a great guy." She summed up.

Hitomi laughed, her eyes sparkled, now shone clearly without the glasses she usually wore.

"Hitomi, I think I should tell you-"

"Excuse me, don't I know you from somewhere?" Came another voice, unaware of the interruption of a soon to be important conversation. Millerna shrugged it off, knowing now that she could talk to Hitomi whenever she wanted.

The only brunette there smiled and answered. "I think so, we go to the same school. I think I've seen you around before.

Celena smiled at the two. They seemed like nice girls. She was only seeking some female companionship, as she was usually talking to Allen and Van or hanging out with Dilly, as she called him.

"I'm Celena, by the way."

"Hitomi, and this is Millerna." She answered again. Millerna only smiled stiffly.

Celena suddenly looked down at her watch. "Oh, sorry, but I gotta go. I'll see you guys around then!" She smiled and left the two.

They watched her exit the store before resuming their search.

"She seemed pretty nice." Hitomi commented.

"Yeah. I think... she reminds me of someone..." Millerna said thoughtfully.

**xoxo**

"You know, Allen..." Van started slowly and carefully.

The other boy looked at his friend cautiously. "Yeah?"

"I couldn't help but notice that you don't have a girlfriend at the moment?"

"So? What about it?"

Van gave him a serious look... before breaking out in a grin. "You, without a girlfriend, is something that has never occurred since seventh grade. Either you're going gay and not telling me or you're hiding someone from us all."

Allen blanched at the first assumption and then sighed in relief as the second one was heard.

"Well? Which is it?"

The blonde gave a dirty look. "Can't you mind your own business? I don't need to have a girlfriend all the time, although I coulda sworn whatshername and I were..."

Van shook his head, still grinning. "So then, who is it? The girl you've been shadowing from the public's eye?"

"W-what? Who ever said I was hiding someone? I'm just not that interested in anyone right now!"

"So? That's never stopped you before. Actually, I don't think you ever liked any of the girls you dated..." The raven-haired boy went thoughtful.

"I'm too busy to deal with a girlfriend right now." Allen responded, annoyed at his friend.

"Are you still going on about that Millerna girl? I can't believe you're wasting that much energy and time thinking about her!"

"What are you saying?"

"Somebody's got a cruuuuusshh!" Van taunted, before jumping off the sofa to run around the room, being pursued by a homicidal Allen.

After jumping over a couch, running into the wall, tripping over some shoes and falling down some steps, Van made it to the backyard where him and Allen wrestled like four-year olds fighting over a fire truck. And as Celena walked into the house to hear the sounds outside, she shook her head and headed up the stairs.

**xoxo**

I know, you all want more to this chapter. Sorry, it's more like a filler kind of chapter, it wasn't as serious as the last. Mostly it was so Celena could meet Hitomi and Millerna and I guess to start a bond between Hitomi, Millerna and Dilly. And I'm sorry to disappoint those of you but here: Just because I've had the three girls meet does not mean they're gonna get all chummy and then it's gonna turn into a battle of the sexes with girls vs. boys type of thing, I mean come on, that's so predictable. If anyone noticed, I kind of already made the sides. Yes, Millerna, Hitomi and Dilly are on one side and then there's Allen and Van and Celena. But it's not set in stone like a clique that they'll always be hanging out with their designated group.

This story is Van/Hitomi. I don't get why everyone is assuming Dilandau and Hitomi just they're getting friendly. Just to make it clear, it is also Allen/Millerna and Celena/Dilandau. I'm pretty sure I won't be adding any other characters. Throwing in Dryden was a one-time thing and I needed Millerna's mother to be there.

Anyway, I had the first 15 chapters of this story planned, and look at that, I'm already on chapter 9! It's really amazing... Well, I'm not sure this story'll go farther than 20 chapters at the most, and I hope not. I don't want to drag it out or anything so it gets boring.

Now, I need to go type up chapter 14 of Different Colors and then I need to revise all my stories, update my xanga and change it around, and finish reading some books before school starts, damnit and I gotta go shopping for school stuff and clothes too. Well, ciao for now! I'll update in about a month!

8 - 22 - 05


	10. Chapter 10

**xoxo**

**Title-Are you stalking me?!**

**Chapter 10**

**By-Moon Prynces**

**xoxo**

"Ow! Watch what you're doing!" A female voice yelled.

"Sorry! It's not my fault you made me wear these things!" Another girl complained, trying to keep her balance and failing.

"Are you kidding? Haven't you ever worn heels before?" Millerna asked, giving Hitomi a disbelieving look.

The said girl looked away. "Uh... well, it's just been a while..."

There was a moment of silence as Millerna went thoughtful and Hitomi was still trying to walk in a straight line with the shoes she had on. Both girls were in Hitomi's bedroom, and in half an hour they would have to leave for school.

An entire week had passed since the supposed makeover. A week in which Hitomi had cultivated her new look and attitude into a person that she actually liked. She had even consented to getting a drastic hair cut that, added with the radiant color of her eyes and new wardrobe, made a member of the opposite sex stare, on more than one occasion.

Now though, it was time to see if this would work. High school meant a lot of things, and was especially important to the average teenager since at least 1/4 of every weekday was spent there.

Hitomi wobbled over to a full length mirror on the back of her closet door. It was still odd to see your reflection and not recognize yourself. She was wearing a pair of long black jeans, a tight, white t-shirt and the shoes were silver sandals with heels that were almost three inches high. There was a slight touch of makeup that Millerna had insisted upon but it wasn't noticeable.

"Isn't this a bit drastic for the first day back and everything?" Hitomi called over her shoulder.

"How?" Millerna got off the bed and walked over. "I think it sends the perfect message!"

"And what's that? That I'm ready to sleep with every guy that looks at me?" She replied dryly.

The blonde just laughed. "Stop analyzing this so much. You look great."

"Why am I even doing this?" The other girl sighed and walked over to her bed. "It's not like it's a big deal. I just look different." She plopped down and grabbed a pillow to hug it.

"It is too a big deal!" Millerna replied hotly, putting her hands on her hips. "High school is about finding yourself. Trying on different faces and seeing which one fits you. It's better to keep changing until you realize who you are now than wait until you have to go out into the real world. Because on top of dealing with college or finding a job and paying bills and everything else you'll still have to deal with this."

Hitomi looked up at her friend. "So I guess you already know who you are then." She stated.

Millerna stiffened and stood up straight. 'Not quite.' She thought to herself.

Luckily though, Hitomi did not pursue this topic of conversation. "So what happened to Dilandau?"

The blonde waved a hand dismissively. "Who knows? I'm not even sure if his highness will decide to attend school today."

The two girls laughed, knowing there was a lot more to the pryomaniac than a badass, tough guy exterior.

**xoxo**

'This is stupid!' Allen thought angrily, stomping his way across the campus and not even glancing up to wave a hand at the groups of girls staring at him. 'If this is so stupid then why am I still thinking about it?' He thought again.

It really wasn't like the blonde to ignore the clusters of girls stationed around the area. Most of them usually just got up early to see Allen walk by because he would always wave or stop by to flirt. But today he was still in a fit from his chat with Van the previous day.

It was bad enough he was in a horrible mood but it was even worse that it was on the first day back to school from the break they had. He had been so distracted that he forget all about cutting and going to a movie theater across town to pass the time. Mostly he came just to wring his best friends neck for setting his mind such a disarray.

'Speaking of which, where is that no good Fanel anyway?' Allen thought angrily again.

'I can't believe him! How dare he suggest such a thing. I let it pass the first time. But now, I'm really pissed.' He thought again.

The reason he was so pissed was... well it involved a certain blonde that he didn't want to think about. Van had been once again teasing him about that Millerna girl and how he spent too much time thinking about her. Allen argued that it was only to plan revenge and to get under her skin. Van said that it had to be more than that (for once he had been using his head) and commented on how unusual it was that Allen spent so much time with her or thinking about her, when he never spent half that amount of time with any other girl.

Van was also kind enough to mention that Millerna was female, a girl yes, and that she was very pretty.

And that's how the idea that there was never an established relationship between the two got into Allen's head. He knew for a fact that they weren't friends and no where near a romantic relationship. He never realized how much he depended on her being an enemy to him. But now that he realized she was a girl with exceptional looks what was he supposed to do?

Be completely confused is what.

Revenge? It was so tiresome. And Allen was a playboy by nature, always chasing pretty girls. So when did he start making exceptions just because a girl had an attitude with him and didn't stare at him with adoration? Exactly.

So maybe now it was time for a change of plans...

**xoxo**

This was absolutely torture. The white walls. The horribly colored floors. The graffiti covered tables.

Van sighed and put his feet up on his desk as he leaned back in his chair with his hands behind his head. Class would start in a few minutes. Not that he cared. He was planning on taking a nap. The only reason he came to school today was because his mother was taking the day off from work and running errands. It was more that likely that she would spot him around town, cutting.

He had long forgotten which classes he had attended so far. It was just a habit, walking to the correct room each period since he'd done it so often this school year, which was odd.

So he closed his eyes to prepare for sleep. And then suddenly it seemed as if someone had turned up the volume. People were chattering loudly and it wouldn't stop. His eyebrows came together in frustration but his eyes remained closed.

He also heard as some people were shuffling around and some footsteps that very obviously were coming in his direction. He assumed it might be the teacher trying to wake him up so he stayed put and was planning on ignoring him.

But instead of a voice lashing out at him there wasn't anything and then someone sighed.

He was pretty curious at this point. The chattering was still going on. Peeking open one eye, Van looked around the room and didn't see anything out of the ordinary. But everyone seemed to be looking in his direction but not at him. Then he glanced up in front of him to see the back of a girl's head.

Hitomi, who had just walked into her next class was starting to get freaked out by all the attention she had received from so many people, guys and girls. Obviously no one recognized her as the girl Van seemed to always pick on, so no one actually knew her name. They would come up and ask her name, then say something like 'oh, I remember, the new girl right?' and then pretending as if they didn't know Hitomi had been an ugly duckling that shouldn't be affiliated with, the girls commented and complimented on her new look while the guys would try to hit on her, with no luck.

It seemed like everyone was buzzing about her. 'I'm only the center of attention because of how I look! When I first came here no one glanced at me!' Hitomi thought indignantly, taking her seat and not looking up from the floor at anybody.

There were a few cat calls but she turned her head away to look out the window.

Van on the other hand, for all he was worth, had absolutely nothing to say, because he was completely confused. Who was the girl sitting in front of him? He would've recognized her if it was someone that he sat behind in this class. In fact, what class was he in? It didn't even matter.

So class began a few moments later and Hitomi was ignoring everyone except the teacher and Van was staring hard at the back of her head searching his memory for who this person was.

And then finally he got the brilliant idea to make her turn around so he could actually see her face! So he leaned forward and tapped her shoulder. But Hitomi, thinking it was another guy going to harass, just shrugged off the offending finger.

This only got Van irritated, and he was just too curious now to let it go. He waited a few minutes and then tapped again, only to get the same result. This left him with no choice but to lean forward and...

"Hey, do I know you?" He asked, his mouth only an inch from her right ear.

Hitomi stiffened as she felt a whispery voice next to her ear and recognized who it was. 'Oh no! This can't be...' She thought, and slowly turned around to see the face of the last person on earth she wanted to be near.

Van, who had felt her tense up in her seat wondered what was her problem. And then she turned to face him and he finally saw who it was...

"You!" Van yelled, jerking back in his seat so he was farther away from her face. He actually wasn't sure how he knew who it was. The only thing he remembered were those green eyes, since he'd never seen anyone with them before except...

Hitomi just stared in shock. 'Just great! I should've been paying attention damnit! I would've remembered about him and this class!' She berated herself.

Someone cleared their throat loudly. "Do we have a problem there Miss Kanzaki? Mr. Fanel?" The teacher interrupted the revelation and made them look up to see the class staring at the both of them.

Hitomi turned slightly pink and turned around in her seat to face the board again. Van just made an annoyed face but didn't say anything. It took a few minutes for everybody to stop staring but when they finally did, Van was still pretty confused and Hitomi was horrified.

Van leaned forward slightly again and watched the movements of the teacher. "Hitomi?" He asked suddenly, making the girl jump.

She didn't respond though and started shaking involuntarily. 'Damnit, damnit, damnit. What happened to that whole new attitude thing?' The green-eyed girl thought angrily to herself. Then she blinked. And turned around halfway.

"Did you just say my name?" She asked him, giving an odd look.

Van also blinked and jerked back in surprise. "What?"

"I knew you weren't completely stupid, but you've never actually called me by my first name until just now!" She said again with mock amazement.

The raven-haired boy just 'pffted' and glared.

"What? No comebacks?" Hitomi continued, and mentally grinned realizing this wouldn't be so hard. "Has my new look confused you?"

"Please. You may look different but you're still the same person." Van countered.

"Oh yeah? How would you know? You never knew me from the beginning!" She said turning around fully now, so he could get a better view of her. "Besides, aren't you happy now that I don't look like I did before? Didn't you say I should change the way I look? But just to let you know, this had nothing to do with you."

For a moment there was silence as Van took in her new appearance. And somewhere deep in his mind he had to admit that she did look nice, but that was something he would never ever think again, it was a one-time thing.

Hitomi was unnerved as she watched his eyes roam over her face, hair and clothes. But as he did so she also got a good look at him too. So she noticed how his hair was sloppy as it had always been and how the color of his eyes was something she had never seen before.

But before one of them could spit out another remark the bell rang. So Hitomi jumped up and in a flurry ran out of the room. Van was once again confused.

"Stupid bitch." He muttered on his way out of the room.

**xoxo**

Truthfully, she was nervous and excited at the same time. It was so odd to be back in school after an entire week. The blonde sighed in exasperation, wishing the day was over already. So far she had made very little contact with anyone else and was hoping she didn't have to see him today.

Celena Schezar looked around and finally decided on taking the staircase that was less used, she could probably take her time without being jostled around by any crowds. The stairs weren't even long, only leading from the first floor (which was actually elevated off of the ground) to outside the building through the emergency exit, which most people didn't use, so that it lead to the campus and the other school buildings.

She was glad to be in school because being at home, watching Van and Allen wrestle each other over the stupidest things made her dizzy. And she hadn't left her house since that one day she went to the mall and ran into a few girls from school. That was the only thing she looked forward to, maybe meeting up with them and having some friends. But she hadn't seen Hitomi nor Millerna the entire day so far.

And then there was that other thing she needed to deal with that...

Well, he was waiting right there by the closed doors, playing with his lighter as usual.

Celena stifled a gasp of surprise, but her footsteps had already caught his attention. She was near fleeing back up the stairs and finding another way to her next class. But it was too late when he stood up and regarded her with cautious eyes.

"Hey." He greeted slowly.

Dilandau had been, of course, cutting another one of his classes. So he picked one of the most unused places inside a school building, because it was just too hot outside, and sat down to smoke.

Unfortunately his peace was disturbed when he looked up to find Celena standing there, frozen in place. Dilandau was good with confrontation, but mostly because it usually involved him beating the crap out of someone (never a female though, he wasn't below that). So he had stood up and greeted her in his most nuetral tone.

But then after a few minutes neither of them knew what to say to this. Celena hadn't responded. Dilly was trying to come up with something to say.

"About that day-" Celena had opened her mouth and a few words tumbled out before she could close it again. But she had cut herself off.

Dilandau, who had been staring at the floor, jerked up to look at her. 'Why does this feel so... awkward?' Was the only thing to come to mind.

"-we made-out, remember?" She continued in an abrupt manner.

Dilandau just stared at her. And his mind went blank. Celena looked expectant, as if waiting for some explanation or something. He just kept staring back, and neither of them said anything for a while.

Slowly his old self and things started slipping out of his mouth. "Well, you're not a bad kisser, I'd have to say." He commented with a lecherous grin.

Celena blinked for a second, and then went up to him... and smacked him upside the head.

And just like that, the world was suddenly alright, at least between these two.

"Shut up, you pervert!" Celena said, but also had on a grin. A little uncertainly she broached the subject once again though. "So then none of that... matters right? It was just..."

"A one-time thing." Dilandau responded with a nonchalant tone and expression. "Don't think about it too much. I just needed to get rid of some stress."

There was silence as Celena tried to push that event to the back of her memory, never to be looked upon again. So she smiled again and continued a conversation with him, forgetting about her next class.

"So what've you been up to the entire week we had off?" Was the first question that came to mind.

Dilandau looked offended, having remembered that he spent most of his time hanging out with two girls in a platonic way. He even had some fun (though not in a perverted way). But these things he couldn't tell her, in fact, he couldn't tell anyone or his reputation might be ruined!

"Nothing really." He answered vaguely. "Oh yeah, and about that thing... before and all..." Celena nodded a head, understanding that he meant the last day of school when they had made-out. "Sorry bout snapping at you like a bitch. I was supposed to save that for someone else, but it doesn't matter." He shrugged.

There was some more silence. Celena looked down at the floor. Dilandau moved to sit down at the stairs, and Celena followed his example.

'This is so awkward. I've screwed up the only good relationship with a human being I have now!' Celena thought to herself. She glanced to her left where Dilandau was leaning back on the steps.

"Actually, I've gotta be going." Celena blurted out and jumping to her feet, she pushed open the door and scrambled out before Dilandau could blink.

And as she ran across the school grounds, not to get to her class, but just to get as far away as possible from Dilandau, Celena realized this entire day was tiring.

'Maybe I should just go home now?' She thought, stopping and looking up at the sky. 'It all seems so unreal.' And she began wandering around again, not caring if someone saw her. 'How did I get in this position anyway? It was such a great relationship we had, always fun and teasing. And now it's all awkward and serious.'

Finally she stopped by a tree and dropped her bag and books down to take a break. "Why'd it have to be ruined now?" She thought out loud.

Except maybe it's just the opposite...

**xoxo**

Another blonde was walking confidently to her next class, not even bothering to glance at anybody else and holding her books tightly in her arm.

Students on either sides of the hallway were whispering and staring at her. Millerna was trying to give off her most calm and sophisticated vibe but inside she felt like sinking into the floor. The uncertain looks she was getting from her peers were not helping her.

Most of her self-confidence was because her classmates looked up to her and respected her. Now they weren't sure about her anymore, thus Millerna wasn't sure about herself either. The only thing she could be sure of was that she was done playing games with Allen Schezar, and that like Hitomi she wasn't going to back down, not this time.

So she proceded to her next class and casually sat down and waited, the most horrible part. It didn't take that long for him to come waltzing in through the door like he was king. And although his stride showed his over-inflated ego, his face was something different altogether. Just like everyone else in the room at the moment, there was a slight unsure look in his eyes.

Millerna stared at him dead on as he came in. He didn't catch her gaze at first though, not until he was walking up the aisle that lead to his seat behind her. Then he looked at her and grinned.

Everyone else in the room seemed to be holding their breath and watching the two like it was some new TV drama. The teacher hadn't arrived yet.

"Why, Miss Aston, you're puntual, as usual." He commented, stopping near her desk, his grin still in place.

Millerna gave a bored look and put her face in a palm. "Thanks. If only I could say the same to you." She gave a mocking smile.

Allen raised an eyebrow and gave a glance around the room at the audience they had acquired. Millerna nodded her head with her smile, as if she didn't care.

"So how was your vacation? I suppose you went out and partied every night, right?" Allen said once they locked eyes again.

"What would you say if maybe I had?" Millerna countered. "It's not like I don't ever go out and have fun. But maybe my fun is different from yours, you know, the kind where you're busy harrasing people."

Allen had nothing to say to this. He stood there giving her a hard look, he could sense something different about her. But he found his voice soon enough. He leaned leaned to her so they were staring right into each other's eyes.

With an amused expression he went on, "Well then, maybe I should come along with you on one of your adventures. Tasting another life wouldn't hurt, now would it?" He asked, licking his lips.

Millerna stared at him blankly. 'What in the world is he getting at?' She could only think.

But then the teacher came in and everyone, including Allen, took their seats as the lesson began.

For a few minutes he didn't do anything but sit there staring up at the board. And then he put a hand on her right shoulder and leaned forward to the left side of her face.

"So then, have you missed me?" He persisted. Millerna just made a digusted face and tuned to around in her seat so he moved back into his own.

"What's up with you? Are you trying to seduce me or something? I'm not like the other girls you know." She responded confidently. A few people around the two started to stare.

"What would you say if maybe I was?" Allen shot back with his most charming smile. It wasn't so much to woo her at the moment as it was to put on a good show for anyone who might be watching. A plus was that it was obviously getting on Millerna's nerves.

So Millerna was grinding her teeth and glaring hard at him. "Stop messing around. You already know that would be a big waste of time. I'd never ever consider going off with you."

"Really? Are you sure about that?" Another one of his annoying smiles was given.

"What ever happened to that whole 'I'm gonna bring you down' crap you were spouting before?" Millerna asked suspiciously. "Now you're trying to make me an airhead bimbo like the ones you usually date?"

"You know, you were right, you're not like the other girls. That's what makes it more fun." He smiled again.

Millerna was too fed up with this so she turned back around in her seat with a bored look. 'What is he getting at? He's a completely different person than before. I wasn't expecting this. Now what?' She thought urgently.

Allen leaned back in his seat, satisfied that he had once again gotten under her skin. The rest of the period went by without either of them speaking to each other. But when the bell rang and before Millerna could get out of her seat, Allen had risen and was blocking her.

"What do you want now?" Was her irritated reaction. When his smile only grew, Millerna found there was only one thing to do. In a swift motion she had stood up and at the same time brought her palm to his cheek with a resounding smack.

A few people stared in horror. One, Millerna had tarnished her reputation. Two, she had also screwed with Allen's suave, ladies man rep. And three, now their lives would forever be intertwined, as she had been the only girl to ever turn down Allen Schezar, and in one hour the entire school would know.

Instead of fleeing the scene or giving profuse apologies like some people expected, Millerna showed some backbone by standing her ground glaring at him as he held his throbbing red cheek.

"Bitch..." Was the only thing he could mutter at the moment.

She responded by grinning triumphantly. And then before she blinked he had grabbed a hold of both her arms with his hands gripping them tightly and leaned in once again.

"You're gonna pay."

**xoxo**

I can't believe this. Never have I written such a long chapter for this fic that was completely horrible. NO, do not tell me otherwise. If none of you can see it in my writing, you're obviously blind.

1. There was no humor in there! I hate that! Why did it turn out so serious?

2. I made Allen seem like a complete jerk, and that was not my intention at all. Don't hate him. He really is a good character. Not just in this fic, but in the series as well.

3. Celena and Dilly's scene and now relationship is so screwed up! Remember how I said before that I hadn't any intention of them making out and stuff? I honestly don't know how I let that happen. And futhermore, how did I let it slip past me that this would change their relationship? Like I said, I have everything planned out till chapter 15 and that messes things up a bit.

4. I dislike the scene where Van finds out about Hitomi's new look. It just seems so wrong. I'm not even sure how else it could have gone. I tried to steer it away from being cliché and keeping them to their original character, yet having them change as people. All it did was suck.

I know, I sound so stupid. It's just that things didn't turn out as I planned or thought they would. But I won't rewrite it. I won't change a thing. What's trying to be a good writer if I don't accept these things sometime and try to move past it? Sometimes life's like that. It's not as you expected, but there's nothing you can do about it.

This is so weird, and I certainly didn't think it would happen in this fic. But maybe it's just me as a person. I keep looking at this (along with my other fic, Different Colors) as if these are real people with real problems and there is no easy way out or great big happy ending. They're different people with different ways of thinking and reactions. Even to me, with my vague outline and supposed planning, it's all still unpredictable. It's all so real, with reputations and supposed images that need to be kept up.

**And one last thing that I think you should read. Don't sit around expecting a tragedy or a sob story as if something terribly bad is going to be brought up from a character's past. There aren't even any other main characters, and none others will be brought up unless I need to. Millerna's situation is the only one that will be bringing up her family, although they won't be major characters. I'm sorry to disappoint any of you but that's that. This is pure teenage angst, just life. And life sucks.**

**My profile page is where I'll tell you of any new developments with this story or any others, so check it to see when I might update if you get impatient. And if I were you, I'd go to my xanga! That's cuz I'm just a loser with nothing better to do, but anyway... I have a life outside of writing, in case anyone was wondering. **

Sorry for rambling, though I hope someone might've read all that. Until next month! Ciao!

9-24-05

10:34pm


	11. Chapter 11

**xoxo**

**Title-Are you stalking me?!**

**Chapter 11**

**By-Moon Prynces**

**xoxo**

A blonde quickly made her way past the crowds of people, most of which were giving her weird looks. Millerna didn't pause or hesitate. Her hair was in disarray, something that had never happened to her in public before. Not only that, but her mind was in worse shape.

She tried to make it out of the school grounds as quickly as possible, but when she reached the street and turned into another block there was someone else there.

"Millerna?" Was the simple question that made her jerk up and take a step back.

"Oh, its you." She said, relaxing a bit as the sight of a raven-haired boy was in her vision. "Van, Allen's friend right?" She asked, making sure, mostly to herself though.

He nodded slightly and looked her over carefully. "What're you doing here? I thought you lived in the other direction, the other side of town." He stated, walking a little closer, as they had been about ten feet apart.

"It's none of your business where I was going." She snapped suddenly.

Van grinned. "Talked to Allen already, haven't you?"

Millerna glared, trying to keep a good grip on her books and bag.

"You look so unsettled, that has to be the only explanation." He said, answering her unasked question with a shrug.

"And what about Hitomi? I'm sure you must've run into her already today, right?" The blonde questioned, her eyes flashing dangerously.

Van's face faltered and he looked around, unsure. Then he looked up again. "So I guess it's true then, huh? You and her are actually friends now." He stated. "And Dilandau, what's up with him? I haven't seen him much in the past week, did you get to him too?"

Millerna stared at him. And then she suddenly turned on her heel and walked off in the correct direction of her house, without even glancing back at Van, who stood there with a pissed off look.

**xoxo**

Back at the school though, Hitomi was taking her time walking out of the building, not even paying attention to all the stares she had acquired. It may have still been only the first day back but she felt pretty used to the looks by now. Other than that, she had things on her mind that made her completely oblivious to the looks she received.

Luckily for her though, a hand soon came and snaked it's way around her shoulders as the person kept up with her steps. Hitomi looked up and smiled slightly.

"Hey." Dilandau greeted, not looking at her, but ahead and where they were walking.

Hitomi also turned to look ahead. "So, I guess the only reason you're not ashamed to be associated with me is because I'm a knockout, right?" She joked. Although somewhere deep down she thought it was actually the truth.

Dilandau didn't answer this, just grinned his usual grin. "So where's Millerna?" He asked as they walked towards the school gates.

"I'm not sure. I haven't seen her since this morning, before school."

He made a face. "What, having girl time and all that?" He asked.

Hitomi laughed. "You could have joined us you know. It might have been nice to have a male's opinion. I almost didn't come today."

"Why?" Dilandau asked as me made another face.

"What kind of question is that? Aren't you always the one cutting classes?" She looked around at the crowds of people, most of which were givng the pair strange looks. "I don't know. I just thought it would be too weird. It's like everyone seems to notice me now. I stand out more because I look nice." This statement was followed by a heavy sigh.

There was a pause. Dilandau still had his arm around her shoulder and Hitomi was now looking down at the ground.

"It makes me wonder if anyone actually cares about who I am. How do we make real friends in the world if most of them are superficial like this? I know Millerna and you aren't, you talked to me before I changed my appearance." She continued.

At mention of Millerna's name Dilandau snorted, not exactly in disagreement though. "Have you talked to her about this then?" He asked, and then didn't give her a chance to answer before continuing. "Actually, I think you stood out before you changed." His red eyes flickered upward in thought. "It had more to do with your personality and attitude. You're really strong and you don't like getting pushed around."

Hitomi jerked up and stared at him and they both came to a stop, just before the exit of the school grounds.

Then he grinned and looked down at her. "And I guess also because you have really great looking eyes." He stated again.

Her green eyes widened in one second and then she smacked him lightly on the head with a smile in the next. Neither of them had paid attention to their surroundings and soon another voice was heard creeping up behind them.

"Dilly! I knew it was you, who else has hair that color?" A female voice asked, making the other two slowly turn around to see who it was.

Celena slowly walked up behind them and stopped suddenly in her tracks as she noticed the girl Dilandau was with. Her smiled faded and Dilandau's eyes traced her expression curiously. Hitomi stood there, not sure what to do.

"Hey." Was the only thing he could come up with.

Celena shook her head and put back on her smile. Hitomi smiled in recognition.

"Hey, I remember you!" The brunette burst out. Celena gave a confused look. "We met at the mall that day. Hitomi, and Millerna's not here right now but it's great to see you again!" Hitomi greeted eagerly.

And it clicked in her mind. "Oh! Right! How're you? You look quite different from..."

Hitomi smiled in an embarrassed way. "Yeah, I do."

There was an awkward pause. Dilandau looked at the two girls uneasily. It seemed to him that he had odd relations with both of them, and he didn't want them to know about each other. Keeping things like this separate seemed so much easier.

Hitomi had sensed some tension between the two and decided maybe it was time to make her exit. "Hey, I think I should be going now." She turned to Dilandau. "I'll see you and Millerna later I suppose." Then to Celena. "It was nice to run into you again." And then she turned and left quickly before anyone could answer.

Dilandau had nodded and Celena just smiled politely, but as Hitomi made her leave they both looked around unsurely.

"So..." Celena started off.

"Why did you scatter like you didn't wanna be near me before?" Dilly suddenly questioned, giving a suspicious look.

Celena was taken aback. "Uh..." 'I have no idea!' She thought to herself. "I had to get to class, you know, the same place you should have been." She shot back.

He looked confused. "And that's another thing. Why're you being so bitchy all of a sudden?"

She got angry at this. "I am not being bitchy! I can't get pissed off now?"

"But WHY are you pissed off?!" He yelled at her comeback.

"I'm not pissed off at anything!" She shouted back at him.

Dilandau stood up straight and stared at her. "Is this because... what happened last week?" He asked quietly, trying to be civilized.

Celena looked around and noticed that most crowds had dispersed so not that many people were watching her. She took a few moments to control herself.

'Why am I angry?' She thought again. Then she looked up at him to see something unusual. He was giving her a solemn, sincere look.

She shook her head. "I'm not sure." She finally said with a sigh and looked down.

Dilly shifted uncomfortably. "Maybe..."

"Forget it, I've gotta go too." Celena said shaking her head. She walked, what seemed to be towards him, but stopped as she was next to him. She looked up and smiled. "See you around."

He looked confused and then just nodded. So Celena kept walking without looking back at him and he didn't turn around to look either.

But unfortunately for the two, a pair of eyes had caught sight of them and Celena's parting smile.

**xoxo**

There wasn't a sound in the house. It had been that way for nearly half an hour since he got home. A few times there was a tapping of feet but it would stop soon after.

Finally, the front door opened and a person shifted inside. She took off her shoes and dumped her books on a nearby end table. Then as she walked into the living room a shriek was heard, and then a click as the lights were turned on because the shades had been drawn closed.

"Allen! Don't do that!" Celena shouted at her brother, who was sitting on a couch with his elbows on his knees and mouth resting on his hands, which were together.

"We need to talk Celena." His voice was serious, something that Celena hadn't witnessed very many times before. It was also slightly creepy because he looked like he could murder someone at the moment.

"Uh... why are you looking at me like that?" She questioned nervously, still standing.

"Just sit down." He said, his voice changing to a slightly annoyed one.

"Okay... but if this is gonna be like some thriller movie where I have to run around and scream a lot... warn me first." She said, taking a seat on a chair across the room from him.

He sighed heavily and looked down into his hands. "Where were you so long anyway?" He asked with suspicion.

Celena made a confused look. "I took another route walking home. It was longer and I took my time. It's not like I've got much to get home to." She stated.

Allen looked at her carefully and decided she wasn't lying. "Look, I'm gonna get to the point here. I saw you talking to Dilandau Albatou outside of the school when we got out. What are you doing hanging around him?" He asked in a calm voice.

Celena stared at her brother in shock. "Nothing!" She responded quickly.

He stood up and continued speaking. "You shouldn't be associating with people like that, especially not Dilandau." He stated.

"Why not?" She asked angrily. "You're not dad or mom, I don't have to listen to you Allen!"

He walked over to her and bent down to her level. "I'm your older brother. I know what's best. You've only been in this school for a few weeks. He probably tricked you into talking to him. Just don't listen to him or bother talking back, okay?"

Celena abruptly stood up, making Allen back up. "I know what I'm doing! I'm not five anymore Allen! You may be my older brother but I'm not ignorant. And Dilandau and I aren't doing anything illegal. We just talk or hang out, it doesn't matter. None of it matters!" She screamed, making Allen wince and take another step back.

Then she turned on her heels and ran up the stairs to her room and slammed the door so hard that Allen had to wince again as he heard something clatter loudly to the floor.

He sighed and walked to the wall and picked up what had fallen. When he turned it upright a picture of him and Celena as children stared up at him.

"I was only trying to help." He said to himself outloud. "I just don't want anyone to hurt her..."

**xoxo**

The sound of a doorbell nearly made her fall off the bed, needless to say she was startled. The girl got up and slowly crept downstairs to the front door, which she opened.

"Hey Hitomi." Millerna said as the other girl invited her in the house.

"Hi Millerna. What's up? I didn't think I'd see you until tomorrow at school." She replied with a confused look.

Millerna smiled. "Well we could talk about our first days back and things. Tell me everything that happened!" She said as they walked into the living room and sat down on different sofas.

Hitomi sighed and blew a strand of hair out of her face. "Nothing too interesting, I guess. I just didn't expect my new look to bring such an uproar in the student body..."

There was a silence as Millerna adjusted to the surroundings and Hitomi was thinking over the day's events.

"I saw Dilandau." Hitomi suddenly said.

Millerna smiled happily. "That's good. At least we know he's going to school more often."

Hitomi looked thoughtful. "And while I was with him I ran into that girl, remember from the mall? Celena? It seemed like her and Dilandau are pretty well aquainted."

The other girl looked up sharply, and then after a moment she shrugged. "He kind of is a playboy, you know. Just not as much as Allen Schezar." She said the name with bitter disgust.

"It was weird though, it was like they were both tense about talking to each other, so I left them to sort things out on their own." The green-eyed girl went on.

Millerna nearly snorted. "Dilandau? Uncomfortable around a girl? It seems highly unlikely to me." She stated.

Hitomi smiled slightly. "Oh come on, maybe we should give him some more credit. He's a pretty cool guy and I'd rather consider him a friend than a stranger now. Besides, maybe we should stop looking at people for who they try to be and look at them for who they really are. I'm not the person that everyone saw me as. In fact, they still don't see who I really am."

Millerna looked at her and started to think these things over. There was another pause in conversation.

"Hey, do you want anything to drink or something?" Hitomi asked, standing up.

"Uh... a coke?" Millerna suggested, still kind of spaced out.

Hitomi nodded and left the room. Millerna watched her go and stood up slowly to examine the pictures around the room. She was too curious to not look around.

Of course she had gone to the houses of many other classmates, who she used to consider "friends" but they were always nervous and fidgety. It seemed like they had planned everything to be perfect. But she couldn't blame them. Millerna's image of being the best proabbly made them feel so inadequate that they tried to make themselves, their homes and families look just as perfect in Millerna's eyes. Maybe it was their way of trying to gain her respect.

But Hitomi was so relaxed and there were magazines all over the coffee table as if she didn't care about the mess. Any other person would probably apologize profusely for that as if it actually bothered her.

And then there were the words she had just spoken. To stop looking at a person's image and start looking at them. It only brought Millerna back to her original train of thought which was her own image and Hitomi didn't know a thing about it. She only seemed to see the best in Millerna.

'The real me... I guess she saw me for who I was before I even did.' The blonde looked around once more at the room. 'No one's even been inside my house. Maybe I should invite her over next time.'

"Here." Hitomi's voice caught her off guard and she spun around quickly to see her put a tray with two cans of coke and a plate of cookies on the coffee table, after shuffling some of the magazines out of the way.

They both resumed taking the seats they were in earlier, drinking and eating occasionally.

For a moment Hitomi looked uncomfortable, then she spoke. "Millerna have you ever had a boyfriend?"

There was once again some silence.

Millerna laughed to herself. Hitomi only became more nervous. "Nope." She answered, making the younger girl look up at her in surprise.

"What?"

"Okay, I'll tell you something else." Millerna said, leaning in conspiratorially. "Not only have I never been on a date, I've never even had a crush on anyone."

Hitomi shot her a weird look as the other girl just laughed at this. "Never liked anyone?" Her forehead crinkled. "You don't even sound human then. Not even when you were little or anything?" She asked, stretching it out.

"No, I've never had time for any of those things." Then the blonde sighed. "I'm too busy with school and other things like that to think about a romantic life."

"But you're so nice, and pretty and smart." Hitomi protested. "You've never done anything..." She trailed off in thought.

"Actually..." Millerna was about to finally tell her newfound friend the truth.

"I think you're just pushing people away on purpose. You should've had a dozen experiences in this area by now. It's like you're holding yourself back or something." Hitomi made a confused face. Then she gave a sinister grin. "And you know... if I didn't know any better I'd say that you and Allen Schezar seem like a perfect match."

At this Millerna's look turned to one of horror.

"I mean... he's pretty experienced, isn't he? He could teach you a whole bunch of new things, couldn't he?" Hitomi continued in a suggestive way, with a short laugh.

This was followed by Millerna jumping up with a pillow from the sofa in her hand, ready to smother Hitomi to near death. It took about five mintues for them to calm down and stop laughing (on Hitomi's part) with a few more pillows on the floor, along with the both of them.

"Oh yeah." Millerna got out between trying to catch her breath. "What about you and Van Fanel? Nothing interesting happening between you two I suppose?" She asked slyly. "How was his reaction by the way? You never told me how he took your new look and attitude."

Hitomi glared for a second, and then sighed. "I'm not sure actually. He seemed kinda surprised and confused. But then we argued and he kept saying I was still the same person and I responded with the 'you never knew me from the beginning anyway' and I don't know..."

Millerna nodded to herself as she spoke. "I bet he looked you up and down like a piece of meat first."

Hitomi turned slightly red as she remembered. "He was only just getting used to my new look!" She protested. "Boys suck!"

And after a moment there was more laughter, from them both this time, at the childish statement.

"Boys do suck." Millerna agreed.

**xoxo**

Okay, I know I made you guys wait forever and this chapter wasn't even good enough like the rest. I'm so sorry about that. I can't believe how short each scene was, except the last one, and I'm the author! Sorry!

Anyway, I don't think there was much movement in this chapter either. Er... uh... there isn't much to say actually. I've still gotta get up the next chapter to DC but I'm being so lazy and I'm always sleep deprived so I never get a chance to work on it most nights. I'll try to work on the next chapter to this or maybe the next one to Mission Improbable soon.

Yeah, I know you're probably only going to review to tell me everything you see wrong with this chapter. Go ahead. I would stick my tongue out at you but it wouldn't be the same unless you could see it. (It's probably colored from eating skittles.)

11-12-05

6:36pm


	12. Chapter 12

**xoxo**

**Title-Are you stalking me?!**

**Chapter 12**

**By-Moon Prynces**

**xoxo**

He was staring at her again. It wasn't as uncomfortable as she thought it would be. In fact, she wondered why he bothered to come to class at all. Oh right, that was it, to bother her.

Hitomi turned slightly in her seat. "Could you stop staring at the back of my head?" She asked, a little irritated.

Van gave a big smirk. "Am I making you squirm? Sorry, your majesty." He replied sarcastically.

Hitom shot him a glare. "Shouldn't I be the one calling you that? You're just a pompous jerk. I wonder why you haven't been kicked out of this school yet, just your attitude alone is annoying." She stated.

Van opened his mouth to say something.

"And that doesn't even include when I'm looking at your big, stupid smirk. Why don't you just bug off now? There's nothing wrong with me that could possibly get on your nerves." Hitomi continued on.

Van glared, angry she had cut him off. "I've seen better." He stated, leaning back in his chair and folding his arms.

"Oh really? Then why do you insist on looking at me and not any of the other girls in class?" Hitomi challenged, raising an eyebrow.

Van scowled and his eyes moved out the window. "Don't flatter yourself. You're only good for a laugh."

Hitomi glared again. "I hate you."

Van turned back to her and grinned. "No you don't."

"You're right." Hitomi glared harder. "I can't stand you. Hating you would mean that I actually knew you, but thank god I don't. How does anyone else put up with you, it must be a miracle."

Van laughed at her. Then leaning forward he cupped his mouth with a hand and whispered. "Fine, I'll tell you something." Hitomi, obviously surprised and curious at this, also leaned forward. "You're not like other girls here. They either love me or just don't care. No one can not stand to be around me." Hitomi blinked. "You're always fighting with me over stupid things so that's why... it's so much easier to laugh at you!" He concluded, leaning back again and laughing once more.

Hitomi blinked again as she leaned back and then regained her senses, so she glared at him. But when he didn't stop laughing (since he was very amused at her naive expression) she grabbed a book and hit him on the side of the head with it.

There was a loud clap as the book it the floor.... next to where Van lay with tears in his eyes. Hitomi slowly inched around to see the class and teacher staring at her, bewildered.

"Uh... he needed to borrow my notes and... I guess I swung around my arm too fast andIhithimbutitwasanaccidentandI'mreally,reallysorry." She stuttered and rushed out the lie.

"Oh." The teacher went. "Well... why don't you help Mr. Fanel back into his chair." The teacher said, before going on with the lesson.

"Eh..." Hitomi turned to stare at Van who was still lying on the floor, exaggerating his fall and injury, with his eyes closed and arms spread out.

"I think I'm dying." He croaked out.

Hitomi laughed... until she felt him grab her leg to get himself up. She shrieked in surprise and then clapped her hand over her mouth and glared at Van who was now sitting up on the floor, his arm propped up on a knee.

The class stared at the two once more, but the teacher had the good sense to ignore it. It took seven minutes for Van to finally seat himself, Hitomi to pick up her book and the class to stop glancing over at them with amused looks and dreamy smiles (from the females).

Hitomi didn't even turn around this time. "You're such an idiot." She muttered, knowing he would hear.

Van just grinned again and put his feet on the table, folding his hands behind his head, the laziest position in the world, well... besides sleeping.

'He's not completely horrible.' Hitomi thought, pretending to pay attention. 'He's pretty funny actually. He wasn't even a total jerk today.' She sighed. 'Must be a fluke.'

'No wonder Allen thinks there's something up between us. I must be going soft or something.' Van thought to himself. Then he looked at the back of her head. 'Well, she does have nice eyes.'

**xoxo**

Red eyes glanced up at the crowds every few seconds. Then they would go back to the item in his hands. A few minutes later all the crowds were gone and murmur of the teacher in the nearest classroom could be heard faintly.

Ten minutes later Dilandau heard the sound of someone's feet on grass and looked down from the tree he was perched in.

"Dam, since when are you so hard to find?" Allen questioned.

Dilandau smirked. "Since when is it so important for you to go looking for me?" He asked back.

"I came to talk to you about something." The blonde stated, looking up in the tree.

"And just for me you decided to cut class? I'm honored Schezar." He said, voice dripping with sarcasm.

Allen glared. "It's about my sister." He stated, clearly saying it was a serious matter.

A groan was heard. "Not another one of you I have to deal with, do I? What does she have to do with me?"

"I want to know what's going on between you two." Allen said, his face grave.

"What kind of question is that? I don't even know her!" Dilandau argued.

Allen looked surprised. "But I saw you and Celena talking-"

His face turned to stare at Allen sharply. "What?"

"I saw you two talking the other day-"

"No. Who did you say?" Dilandau's eyes shown with shock just like Allen.

"Celena."

"Her name is Celena?"

Allen nodded, unsure of what was happening. "My sister's name is Celena."

Dilandau look straight ahead of him into the air for a moment, dazed. "Celena Schezar."

"Dilandau." Allen called, trying to get back to the reason he was here. "What's going on between you and my sister?"

The silver-haired boy turned to look back down. "There isn't anything between us." Allen took his voice as being irritated at the question, but to Dilandau it came out bitter.

"I don't want you hanging out with her anymore." Allen finally said after a brief pause. "I just don't want her getting into the wrong crowd and-"

And for the third time Allen was cut off.

"That's fine. I wasn't planning on talking to her much anyways."

Allen shot a skeptical look. "Are you sure?"

Finally red eyes became annoyed. "What, does it look like I plan out our schedules just so her and I can skip off to buy ice cream? I may run into her once in a while, that's it."

"Good. No offense Dilandau. Thanks for understanding what I mean." Allen nodded before turning to walk off.

**xoxo**

A blonde slowly walked into the cafeteria, holding her books and schoolbag tightly as she scanned around the room. The she spotted a table with two other students, both staring (or glaring) at each other fiercely. By the time she walked over, they were at it.

"Rock, paper, SISSORS!" They both shouted while throwing their fists forward four times.

Millerna stood there, dumbfounded. "What are you guys doing?" She asked incredelously.

Hitomi looked up eagerly. "Dilandau won't get up and get me something at the vending machine. I'm so tired I can barely stand up!" Then she shot him a glare. "Aren't good friends supposed to help each other out?" She asked him, he shrugged.

Millerna's look was nothing short of horrifying. Dilandau had glanced up from where his face was in his palm, and caught her expression.

"I'll do it." Millerna said, grabbing the bills from Hitomi's hands and barely gaving the brunette a chance to place her order before taking quick strides away.

Hitomi stared at the retreating figure as Dilandau closed his eyes and sighed.

"What's wrong with Millerna?" The green-eyed girl questioned, looking back at her companion. He just shrugged. "So..."

Dilandau peeked open an eye to see Hitomi giving him a curious look. "What?" He asked defensively.

"Oh nothing." She looked around the room, pretending to not notice his probing gaze.

"What-is-it?" He said through clenched teeth.

"I was just remembering that day... when we ran into Celena... and you know..." She said vaguely.

Unfortunately, the response she got was nothing. Dilandau didn't even look back up at her or say anything. In fact, his entire expression was calm and neutral. Hitomi blinked and stared at him. Then she turned away, having nothing else to say.

"Dilly." She muttered.

**xoxo**

Millerna, although she had sped away from the table where her freinds occuppied, was now taking her time getting herself lunch along with buying Hitomi's snacks, and if there had been a vending machine for beer she would have been all over it... for Dilly, of course...

Anyway, the point was that Hitomi's statement about good friends hit her hard, making her realize she had no idea how to be a friend, as shown by her conduct nearly two weeks ago along with Dilly's disapproval.

She also had another problem to deal with at the moment. Allen hadn't shown up to class since the day she slapped him in front of an entire room full of their classmates. She wasn't sure if he was too embarrassed or he really just didn't care. And when he did decide to come back, what was she supposed to do? How was she supposed to react?

'Most likely I'll ignore him and he'll ignore me.' She thought to herself.

And then... there was the fact that she hadn't had a real conversation with her mother since the day she blew off that guy, Dryden.

"Being a teenager sucks." She mumbled, blowing a strand of hair out of her face.

"I'd have to agree with you there."

Millerna abruptly stopped walking, dazed. She cautiously turned to her left to see the last person she wanted to talk to.

"Uh..." She turned to face him, holding a tray of the school's lunch and the things she picked up for Hitomi and took a step backwards.

Allen wasn't even looking at her, he was still facing the direction she had been walking in and for once wasn't surrounded by any girls that were usually vying for his attention. Millerna wasn't even sure he had noticed she was standing next to him.

In fact, it seemed he didn't even know he had spoken his thoughts outloud.

But then he blinked and was back with the living and quickly turned to stare back at the person who was gazing at him out of the corner of his eye.

**xoxo**

Hitomi fidgeted in her seat for the billionth time in the past five minutes that Millerna had left and communication between her and Dilandau had been grounded. Dilandau looked at her carefully.

"What's up with you?" He questioned lazily.

She stopped daydreaming to hearing his voice. "Huh?" Was the only thing she could come up with.

Dilly stared at her. "Why can't you sit still?" He asked.

She blinked up at him. 'Actually, I was thinking about Van and that class we had today. Wouldn't it be great if him and I were like that, friends?' "Just wondering when Millerna is gonna be back." She replied after a pause.

He just eyed her suspiciously. "Sure, okay."

There was some silence.

"How come you're not talking much?" Hitomi asked.

Dilandau gave her a dry look. "I should ask you the same thing." Hitomi laughed nervously. "Just in a bad mood." He answered in a gruff voice, turning away.

There was some more silence.

"Does it have anything to do with-"

"No." He said shortly.

"You didn't even let me finish!" She argued.

"It doesn't matter." He said, folding his arms. "You wouldn't know why so there's no point in guessing."

"I bet it has something to do with Celena." Hitomi murmured.

"No it doesn't!" Dilandau replied hotly, his hands moving and forming fists, which he raised crazily.

"Eh..." Hitomi moved away in her seat, sweatdropping. "I was only kidding you know."

Dilandau stopped moving his fists. "...oh... I knew that." He said, turning away, pretending he wasn't embarrassed at being a fool all on his own.

"Right..."

Sensing she wouldn't drop the subject so easily again, he went for the offensive. "So, you seen Fanel around lately?"

Hitomi glared at him, even though he wasn't looking at her. "What does that have to do with anything?"

Silence.

"...oh! I get it. Just because I said-" Hitomi was cut off from saying her name as Dilandau shot her a glare in warning. She looked down at her lap, and then back up at him. Then she whispered. "I'll tell you mine if you tell me yours."

**xoxo**

She had no freaking idea what had compelled her to set her tray down and grab a chair to sit down next to Allen Schezar, aka the enemy.

But here she was, with him spacing off and her shifting around uncomfortably. It probably wasn't a good idea to be here, people might talk. They might think there was something between the two, or maybe that she'd kiss and make-up with him because that was the person she painted herself to be.

'Why did I have to be such an idiot?' She thought to herself.

"Why did you agree with me?" She suddenly asked, jumping at the sound of her own voice. Allen finally looked up to see her sitting next to him. "I mean, you've got everything don't you? A perfect life, in the eyes of most people." Apparently when her mouth opened it wouldn't shut up.

"My sister-"

"You have a sister?" She asked incredelously, leaning forward.

Allen moved back slightly. "See this right here." He made a semi-circle in front of himself with his hands. "This is my space. Which you have just invaded."

"I knew it." She said getting up. "You're always going to be a big jerk, no matter what. You know, I almost felt bad for you, you looked so down for a while. But I guess it was just a part of me trying to prove you were human and sypathize with you. I just wasted my time."

And then, blonde hair and all, she left Allen who looked a little shocked and appalled.

After a few moments he grinned. "Well, she is human after all."

**xoxo**

Millerna approached the table cautiously, as the scene before her was a little odd. Hitomi and Dilandau were really close together, whispering things she couldn't hear while staring intently at each other.

She groaned as she reached the table. "Oh god, don't tell me you guys are gonna start sucking faces soon." She stated with a smirk.

Their eyes shot up to glare at her.

"What are you thinking-"

"What the hell-"

"I can't believe you'd ever think-"

"You're lucky I don't hurt girls-"

"-and there is no way, I would ever, ever-"

"-don't date friends, at least I don't think-"

"-with him."

"-with her."

They both finished the tirade. Millerna stood there, awe-struck at the effort they put into arguing against a simple statement, which was also just a joke.

"Uh..." The blonde replied.

"MILLERNA!"

"Are you listening?"

They both shouted once more, gaining some onlookers.

Millerna looked at them both anxiously before inching away and collapsing into the nearest chair with them glaring at her.

**xoxo**

"God, when did the internet start to suck so much?" Went the annoyed voice.

She furiously tapped on a bunch of keys and waited. Eyebrows went up, a screech was heard, and the gloves came off.

"Traitor!" A small voice came form the speakers.

"I didn't mean to!" She shouted as she watched him fly off of a cliff. Then she gasped.

Click.

"That's enough of that." Celena sighed, fearing she'd lost her sanity.

She had gotten home from school half an hour ago, and luckily had not run into the two male figures she couldn't stand to be around at the moment, both for different reasons. First there was Allen who had completely pissed her off and made her realize things... about her "relationship" with Dilly. Who was he to try and run her life anyway? Celena had spent the past two days not speaking to her brother and not even acknowledging his presence when they were in the same room.

Then there was Dilandau, who had completely confused her. Or maybe she had confused herself. She couldn't really tell. She only knew it involved him and he was the root of some problem that she couldn't quite understand at the moment.

'Was it a friendship? Or was it a pseudo intimate relationship? Did he want me for something else all along?' She thought, getting off the chair and walking into the kitchen.

"Hm..." She pensively looked through the refridgerator, trying to find something she'd want to eat.

"Okay." She said out loud, grabbing a carton of milk and a bottle of chocolate syrup. "So maybe he's not the nicest guy... bad, bad analogy." She shook her head as she poured milk in a glass and stopped when it was nearly full.

After squeezing the bottle of chocolate syrup so that there was a layer in the bottom of the glass of milk Celena looked up in thought. "Right, where was I?" She talked to herself while taking a spoon from a drawer and stirring the contents of her cup.

"Maybe it's all just me." She said, plopping herself down in a chair by the table. "He obviously didn't care about the whole thing. So then why should I?"

A moment of silence passed throughout the house. Allen had yet to arrive home.

"Maybe..." She started, staring off into space, while sipping her drink with a straw she had put in. "Maybe it's just because I don't know how to deal with guys. I only just got out of a private school for girls. I have no idea what I'm actually doing. Flirting, or talking. I can't even seem to tell the difference." She sighed.

"This could just be one of those 'friends with benefits' type of things and I just didn't have the sense to figure it out. I'm such a loser. Maybe I should ask someone for help in this area." Celena said, getting up and depositing her now empty glass into the sink and putting away the milk and chocolate syrup.

"I have no idea what I'm doing or what's going on. I think I'm going to be lost for the rest of my life." She thought, walking out the door. "Stupid private school life. I should've stayed there and become a nun or something. Save myself the trouble of having to figure these things out."

**xoxo**

**Disclaimer-I am reiterating what has been said in the first chapter, just to make sure you all get the picture and no one complains. I know I said my original disclaimer was for the entire story, but I just want to make sure. I do not own Escaflowne and I never will. This means that for all future chapters, if you would like to know where the disclaimer is, you can go back to chapter one or this chapter.**

Disclaimer 2- Also, I do not own Worms, the computer game that I'm sure someone here must've heard about or has played. This was the game Celena was playing on the computer. It's pretty funny actually, to hear them in their weird little voices shouting out things. "Grab ya pineapples an' run!"

Anyway, I'm pretty sure this was just another pointless chapter. I'm not sure when something interesting will happen... I updated because I got a few reviews in the past week, for different things of course. And someone who was reviewing DC said I should update this story first and then do the rest. I'm not quite sure how, but it put me in the mood and I started because I really thought I should. That, and my internet connection is crap right now. I'll be lucky if I can get this chapter up in the next ten minutes. Sorry I can't go check for who it was and give them credit for somehow working voodoo magic and making me write. At least it would give you someone to thank.

Right, not sure when I'll update, maybe next month, maybe next week. You guys are really lucky I wrote this chapter in two days. I'm trying to write the next chapter for Mission Improbable but I'm not sure how to... Anyway, and Different Colors I'm still working on and it's only like half done. It's going really slow... sorry! Ciao.

12-5-05

9:53pm


	13. Chapter 13

**xoxo**

**Title-Are you stalking me?!**

**Chapter 13**

**By-Moon Prynces**

**xoxo**

"I can't believe this." Celena said to herself, rolling her eyes as he stood across from her with an indifferent look.

"It's not a crime to walk through the park." Dilandau stated, trying not to grind his teeth.

"But completely not your style, I'd say." Celena responded, brushing off imaginary lint from her shirt.

"Who says you get to decide what my style is?" He retorted.

They both paused and glared at each other. It really was unusual. Celena had finally worked up the strength to leave the house for some fresh air and wandered around for a bit. It was also due to the fact that school was out and Allen would be home soon, and she really didn't want to have to interact with him. And although she hadn't actually realized it, she had begun walking in the direction of something silvery that was familiar. Then she just happened to cross paths with Dilandau.

As for Dilandau, he was cutting through the park on the way to his house after leaving Millerna and Hitomi to run off and do "girl things". But he didn't see it coming until Celena nearly walked right by him. Of course this could only get more complicated...

"Why are you acting so bitchy?" Dilandau asked accusingly.

"Why are you?" Celena shot back.

Dilandau just frowned, his point being proven by her retort and attitude, although he didn't feel the need to voice this. "I've got a reason to be pissed off." He went on.

Celena just raised an eyebrow. "Oh, how lucky for you. I can have reasons to be angry too, you moron!"

"What's your last name?" He suddenly asked, causing Celena to make a dumbfounded look at the randomness.

"Uh... Celena- Wait! Why are you asking me this? What does that have to do with anything?" She caught herself before she actually answered him, only making Dilandau more irritated.

"Why didn't you tell me you were Allen's little sister?" Dilandau finally yelled out, not liking this whole beating around the bush business.

Celena looked taken aback for a second. "Why does that-?" She cut herself off, thinking back to the last conversation she'd had with her brother. "You know him?" Then she scowled at herself. "Of course, who wouldn't know him..."

"Why didn't you ever say that? That you knew him or were related to him, or anything at all?" He yelled once more.

"What does that matter? I'm supposed to go around, introducing myself as someone's sister all the time?" Celena screamed back.

Unfortunately for them, there were a few people in the park, and some passersby who started giving them weird looks. One even started whispering a tale about the alleged gang member (Dilly) who was arguing with his girlfriend (Celena) about the guy she was cheating on him with and how she only cooked meals for the other guy and... eventually the lady said this fight would be too long and violent to stay and watch. So she left.

Dilandau kept glaring. "It would have been a nice warning about Allen going all overprotective and maybe wanting to murder me!" He yelled again.

"I want to kill you right now too! In fact, I'm sure there must be a list of people who would love to be invited to the demise of Dilandau Albatou!" She shouted.

"There!" He said, pointing a finger at her. "At least you knew my freakin' name, my whole damn name! I couldn't even say that before because I had no idea who you were! And now..." His yelling became calmer and more low towards the end. "I think I do."

"And who is that Dilly? Who am I?" She snickered as he went wide-eyed at the nickname.

But he went on anyway. "Celena Schezar, a lying bitch-"

"I never lied to you!" Celena interrupted, outraged.

Dilandau stood silent for a moment, glaring at her. Celena did the same. Neither of them bothered to use their brains to try and find a solution... or at least figure out what the problem was first.

Quietly, Celena spoke first. "We need to stop running into each other. Stop communicating altogether, right?" She questioned.

Dilandau stopped glaring and only nodded. He turned to walk away.

"Hey, before we... end this, whatever it is..." She started, unsure. Dilly paused mid-turn to look at her. "So... before this mess... were we ever... kind of like friends?"

The red-eyed youth could only give a confused look. "Friends?" He voiced without realizing it.

Celena was close to melting into the ground. Why in the world did she ask such a stupid question? His response only made her feel like crap. What a way to kill hope, she thought, and it hadn't even been an answer. But she decided it was too late to avoid it since she'd been wondering about these things for a while and it was her last chance to clear it up.

"Uh... nevermind that. I have another..." She went on.

Dilandau chose to interrupt her. "Sure. Friends." He seemed to agree.

Her brain did a complete 180, going from disappointment to elation. Thus, giving her more confidence to proceed.

"Well... I know this is gonna sound old... but about that day... we, er..." And for the first time in her life, Celena felt completely embarrassed, and even started turning slightly red.

And for once in his life Dilandau was able to empathize with someone, so he was starting to feel just as uncomfortable. It really didn't help that he knew exactly what she was referring to.

Celena knew he knew also, but she couldn't help herself from trying to actually verbalize what she was talking about. "When we... er..." She shut her eyes for a brief second and just blurted out whatever words her lips formed. "The day before break started and we made-out after school when I followed you around."

Although it was hard to say at first, it felt good to her, to finally get the words out. Dilandau was a bit shocked, even though he knew it was coming. For him, it was difficult to hear the words, he just wasn't sure why.

Physically, Dilly made no response to acknowledge her. The blonde-haired girl continued anyway.

"I think that was a mistake." She stated.

Abruptly he questioned. "Why?"

Her look was deadpan. "Look at us. We're fighting with each other for no reason and being all awkward."

"As long as I wasn't the one who said it." He muttered, looking away slightly. "And I don't think everything we fought about was pointless." Then he gave her a pointed look. "Schezar." He added, for clarity.

"Right." Celena nodded in exasperation. "And quite obviously I think the reason for all this is that day."

"How could that be the root of this problem?" He asked angrily. "You were the one who didn't tell me. It's your fault."

"It didn't matter! Did it change the person I am? Just because you now know my last name? Have I changed? Because you know who my brother is and what family I come from?" Celena blurted out, trying to make sense of it for both of them. Then in a steely voice, brimming with contained anger she asked once more. "Does it change the person I am?"

Dilandau didn't say anything for a minute, staring at her. "No." He answered. "But it changes the person I see."

Celena looked away from having his eyes bore into hers. "So I guess being friends again is now finally out of the question."

"Yeah." Dilandau humphed as he turned to walk away. "What question was that?" He asked as he left.

**xoxo**

A mass of blonde hair swished softly as the person walked forward with purpose. Soon the bell rang, indicating if you weren't in class by now you'd be officially late and class would start.

The person paid no attention as a few students scampered through the halls, some peering at her nervously. She suddenly stopped in front of a classroom door and took a deep breath.

'Here we go again.' Millerna thought to herself before turning the knob and entering the room.

It was like someone had uttered the word bomb in an airplane; dead silence. Millerna walked over to her desk without a word, although the teacher was giving her a quizzical look. She took her time putting her bag on the table and taking her seat, so the teacher decided to pop the question.

"Is there a problem Miss Aston?" The teacher asked, making the blonde girl jerk up, looking to the front of the room.

"Um... no, why would there be a problem?" She asked, slightly jumpy, as she slid into her seat.

Eyes glanced upward towards the clock and then back on her. "You're about two or three minutes late for class. It's just not like you." Was the statement.

Millerna laughed nervously to herself. "Oh no, there's nothing wrong. I'm sorry to have interrupted your lesson. Please continue." She said, hoping the subject would be dropped and she could zone out without another glance in her direction from anyone. Although, she guessed she probably made quite a spectacle of herself already.

A few minutes later a smack was heard as the back door to the room was shoved open with accidental force. Every head turned to see a sheepish looking Schezar saunter to his seat, also in the back of the room so it wasn't much of a walk.

"Hey." He greeted, giving her a specific look, with a wave before sitting down.

Millerna blinked and turned back around to the front of the room. 'What...?' Was the only thought going through her head.

The class went on as usual, except that there was no sound coming from the back corner where Millerna and the resident playboy were seated. Millerna was too busy trying to apply herself to the work, to make up for all the times she'd spaced out or been distracted by Allen, which was quite a few classes.

As predictable as it may have sounded, the teacher soon went into the details of a project they would need to start working on... in pairs or groups. It was obvious from the looks fluttering to the back of the room that everyone either wanted to be with Allen (the girls, for fun) or Millerna (the girls, for work or the boys, who wanted to get closer to her). Unfortunately for these two teens, the teacher chose not to assign the groups or pairs, trusting that a room of hormone-filled adolescents would be able to make the right decisions and come to compromises... and such, but obviously he was too medicated to be thinking straight or he would've remembered which class of his that he was dealing with.

Either way it would be a difficult battle to find a partner or group to work with for both blondes. As soon as the bell rang and class was over both knew they would either have to run for their lives or find a group that was bearable. Except Allen came up with an even better solution, one that would save both their necks and even help him pass the class, if only he could get her to agree.

"Hey." Allen said, trying to catch her attention.

Millerna glanced back out of the corner of her eye. 'What does he want? I was doing great the whole period until now.'

Allen's thoughts were the opposite. 'This is just what I need. A boost. In so many areas, and this would be just the thing to help me. My grades, sure that'd be great. But my reputation, that would be even better. What a sweet deal.' Then he paused to look up at her back. It didn't seem like she'd acknowledged him.

"Millerna." He tried again. 'Now if she just goes for it...' He thought just as the girl in front of him turned halfway in her seat.

"Yeah?" She asked curtly. Truthfully she was pretty confused. Hadn't she screwed him over last time? Ruined reputations and all that? Why did it seem like he'd forgotten it all when only a week ago he declared he was gonna get back at her? Very odd...

"It seems we both have a new problem to deal with and I think I've found a way to help us both." He stated with a grin.

"What problem is that? Schezar." She added.

Allen motioned a hand around the room. "This little assignment we now have."

Millerna glanced around the room herself, catching all the lustful gazes of girls eyeing Allen and boys staring at her. She shuddered before looking back at him. "A solution? For the both of us? You've forgiven me already, huh?" She asked with a slight smile, trying not to seem cold or confused.

His grin seemed to widen. "A truce to just get through this seems more beneficial to the both of us. Partners on this one measly little project and then we can do whatever we want when it's over."

Millerna looked at him suspiciously. "I may not know you that well, but this truly doesn't seem like your style. I'd bet you'd rather battle a lion covered in meat than have to associate with me on more than one occasion, by choice."

"Oh c'mon. It'd help my grades and since I know you don't give a shit about me you won't be a fangirl or a groupie about the whole thing. And I wouldn't be like one of those simpering guys after you." His grinning almost coaxed her into muttering a 'yeah'.

She was still cautious. "What about-"

"A truce is a truce." He stated once more.

"So we won't consider anything about our previous relationship and bring it into this little partnership, right?" Millerna questioned, glancing back to the teacher in case they were caught in an awkward place.

"Hey, when I want revenge I'll get it." Allen's ocean blue eyes glinted in the light, looking quite sinister. "But first we get through this little bump in the road, and then go our separate ways."

Millerna slowly turned back around to copy a few notes off the board. 'It seems so logical. But then what if he's lying? I'm screwed if he catches me in some attempt at blackmail.'

Allen stared at her back coolly, awaiting a response. He was smarter than most people and knew that she was only thinking it over, hadn't actually rejected the proposal yet, even though it seemed as if she'd labeled the entire idea as preposterous and moved on.

He didn't bother organizing his thoughts into anything coherent since she hadn't consented yet. No point in making a plan when he wasn't sure it would be put to use. But he already knew she'd say yes. Why would she throw herself to the dogs when there was a better option? No matter how much she might regret it later. And he was going to make sure she regretted it.

Finally after much contemplation and five minutes before the bell rang, Millerna turned around to stare into his eyes as she gave her final decision. "Okay." She said abruptly. "We'll do this right and then life will go on."

Allen just grinned into the fingers that blocked his mouth from view. He was leaning back in his chair with fingers sprawled across his face. He unexpectedly threw this hand forward and waited for Millerna to lock hers with his so they could shake on it. After which, Millerna flipped back to her original position as though she were a wind-up doll.

'Just what I need.' Allen thought. 'This is going to be my best experiment so far. It's good I already know how human she really is.' He went back to sitting in the same pose and stared at her some more, examining. 'She's probably more innocent and inexperienced than the high school freshmen. I'm gonna screw with her so much that she'll be begging me to stop.'

Meanwhile the aforementioned girl was dreading what was to come of this decision she'd made. 'What have I done?'

**xoxo**

Green eyes darted around the room before taking a step through the doorway and then the person let out a sigh as she made her way into the room. Hitomi was starting to feel strange about this relationship she had with Van and in her book it was best to avoid uncomfortable things, people and situations. Unfortunately that was the way of the old Hitomi, that wasn't supposed to be her anymore. As Millerna tried to convince her, it was definitely time for a new attitude to go with her new look.

Also, there really was no way of avoiding class unless she had the guts to cut, which didn't seem like such a smart thing because her grades had been slowly plummeting. So she trudged to her seat wondering what fun, fun, fun surprises she was going to get today.

The teacher looked around the room with a strange expression. There was just something very different about the atmosphere...

"Hey." Someone greeted Hitomi as she came to her table and put her bag on it, just about to sit down. She glanced at her left, to the person sitting in the seat behind hers, in wonder. He was nonchalantly sitting in his seat, feet crossed on his desk and reading a magazine (something about sports) that blocked his face from view.

"What's this?" Another voice suddenly questioned, making the brunette's head spin to the see the teacher looking in her direction and speaking. "Mr. Fanel, am I mistaken or are you on time for class? In fact, I think you're about two minutes early." He went on.

Hitomi whirled back to stare at the "stranger". He didn't seem fazed at all, didn't move an inch. Hitomi still stood, watching as he turned a page and never letting the magazine fall to reveal who he was.

It took a few seconds for her and the teacher to get over their shock and continue on with what they were doing. Hitomi quickly sat down and the teacher began the lesson as the last few students trickled into the room.

She turned slightly in her seat and glanced at him, pretending to look out the window. It had to be him, who else would take that seat? She went back to pulling a notebook and pen out and trying to take notes, even though with the teachers atrocious handwriting it looked more like an alien language.

The girl stopped abruptly when she felt something brush against her back. She glanced back to see that Van was still immersed in his choice of reading material. She wondered why the teacher didn't seem to care that he wasn't paying attention and reading a magazine. But then again it was probably good enough that Fanel was at least reading something.

Van, for his part was too occupied with an article on something to realize what was going on. It wasn't like this was a rare thing for him to be doing, just that he usually did that at home and caused trouble everywhere else he went.

"Van?" A girl's voice brought him back to the real world just as he finished the article. The dark-haired boy slowly pulled the magazine down from in front of his face. There he met the slightly concerned green eyes of a brunette who was almost fully turned around in her seat and staring at his completely blank and unaware expression.

"What'd I miss?" He asked.

Hitomi stared at him a moment longer, before shaking her head and turning back around. He wasn't worth her time. Her time in this class which was much too precious to be used socializing with the enemy, or ex-enemy. It seemed as though Van couldn't just stay in one category and live with it.

She moved on to try and decipher some more of the teacher's notes.

"Hey, what's going on?" Van asked again, leaning forward over his desk and hovering over her right shoulder. When he noticed her concentrated face and the fact that she ignored him he tapped her shoulder.

"I'm busy." She responded, not even sparing him a glance.

This irritated him. Couldn't even throw a disdainful look over her shoulder to the guy who wanted to ruin her life?

"What's the matter? Afraid of me again?" He whispered to her and moved back into his seat with a smirk in place.

Hitomi jerked her head backwards and shot him a glare. "I was never afraid of you!" She protested.

"So what's up with you?" He questioned with concealed curiosity. "Back to being a bitch already? I thought we kissed and made up last time."

She made a disgusted face. "Don't ever use the words you, me, we and kiss in the same sentence."

Van sneered. "Yeah, I know it turns you on. And you're just so crushed that you're never gonna get me." He stated arrogantly.

Hitomi fumed and turned away from him to contain her anger. 'What a jerk! I was really dumb to think he was an okay guy last time. I knew it had to be a one time thing!' Her thoughts told her.

"Is there a problem Miss Kanzaki?" The teachers voice cut through her haze of ill feelings.

She looked up and shook her head no.

"Good. I hope you and Mr. Fanel are getting along back there, or I might have to arrange the seats myself so no one gets into mischief." He said threateningly.

Hitomi humphed as the class lesson continued. Van looked around the room with a pissed off look. Their peace was interrupted when Hiomi's pen rolled off the desk. She bent down to pick it up and caught Van's eyes. This only made her lurch back into an upright position in her seat and stare at him.

"Why are you looking at me?" He asked her snobbishly.

"I wasn't." She replied airily with indifference.

A few more minutes went on. Hitomi stared at the board blankly and Van stared at the back of her head, bored.

The rest of class passed by in a great big blur and Hitomi was just getting out of her seat after the bell had rang.

"Miss Kanzaki?" Someone called her from behind and she turned (along with Van, who was curious) to find a suited man walking up to her.

"Mr. Wanaki?" Van asked, standing up as the principal came and gave him a pat on the back.

"Hey Van, how're you classes?" He greeted with a smile. "I've been hearing some good things about you. Mostly that you actually show up nowadays." Van looked on in confusion, although he was familiar with him.

"Excuse me, you called me for something?" Hitomi asked, stepping forward.

"Right." He turned to the girl. "I'm sorry we didn't have a formal introduction when you first transferred to our school. I was just too busy to meet you and show you around the school myself and help you get aquainted. I'm the principal here, Mr. Wanaki." He reached out to shake her hand.

Hitomi stood there dumbfounded. 'Guess I forgot there was a principal. I didn't even know his name until now!' She thought to herself. "Uh... okay." Was what she heard herself say out loud.

Van looked at her. Then back to the principal. "Why are you here? Don't you have a job to do?" He asked, a grin sliding into place. It was Hitomi's turn to look at him.

The man only grinned back at the joke. "Actually I was but then it got a bit too tedious so I wandered around the school for a bit, popping into classes and observing. I got into here, didn't know it was your class Van." He smiled, but Van froze at his words.

"What'd you see?" Van asked, glancing around at the empty room. Even the teacher had left.

Mr. Wanaki's serene voice turned reprimanding. "Nothing good apparently." He responded. "I'm giving you both detention." Then turned his head to the side and muttered. "Apparently the teacher doesn't see a problem, but I do."

Both teens looked at him in shock. Hitomi remained quiet though, whilst Van cursed and demanded why.

"Your disruptive behavior is unacceptable." Was the answer, his face going hard at the chance to discipline them. "I've heard you've been attending classes more often, Van, but that doesn't excuse you from interrupting lessons when you feel like it." He turned to Hitomi. "And Miss Kanzaki I didn't think you and Van would have such problems, we might have to separate you two. I didn't even think you two knew each other, I almost wish I didn't have to see this poor display of self-control."

"So what? We don't get along. What're you gonna do? Send us to the counselor to "work it out"? Van asked angrily.

"Stop thrashing around already. It's not getting you anywhere. When are you gonna learn to control your temper and take your punishment?" The principal's expression went from firm back to being friendly."I know I'm not able to watch you at all times so you think it's easier to get away with things but you'd better be in detention when you get that slip or so help me, I may have to consider suspending you." He really was an approachable guy... even when he was mad, because it was never too serious.

**xoxo**

Hitomi slid into her seat when she got into her next class, albeit a little late. She tiredly put her elbow on the table and let her cheek hit her palm. She inwardly sighed.

'Just great.' She thought, staring around the room, looking bored. 'This is just what I need. Dropping grades in that class, back to dealing with asshole-Van and now I've got detention.'

**xoxo**

Van was in his next class having similar thoughts as he reclined in his seat. And the only reason he was still there and not halfway home by now would be because the principal deemed it necessary to escort him to class.

'What the hell does he think he's doing?' He thought angrily. 'Stupid old man. What makes him think I care about this shithole place?'

A few more thoughts flew through his head in his rage. Then after he calmed down another thought hit him full force.

'God I hope he doesn't call my mother!'

**xoxo**

Millerna hurriedly marched her way to the lunchroom, intent on hanging out with her only two friends and trying to correct the course of the day. Really, what was she thinking? A deal with Allen Schezar could only end badly, in so many ways. But it was already too late and there was no point in thinking about it unless he actually proved to be a snake who was going to try something devious.

Dilandau and her caught eyes at the same moment and she walked over to greet him, wondering why Hitomi wasn't there yet.

"Hey." She breathed out before taking a seat.

The silver-haired boy just grumbled out his greeting and looked around once. He put his face in his palm and looked back up at Millerna once she was seated.

"Hitomi's not here." He stated after a moment.

"What?" Millerna stared at him. "She's not in school today?"

"No." He shook his head, almost to himself. "She stormed in five minutes ago in a bad mood and then stormed back out. Said she was going to catch up on some work or something."

Instantly she was concerned. "Did you ask her what was wrong? She okay?"

Dilandau looked annoyed. "Of course I asked her, do I look like I'm stupid?" He retorted. "She didn't answer. I think she's fine, she just looked a little angry at something."

"Oh." Millerna glanced around the room, thinking. "So, how was your day then?"

"Fine." He answered, sounding bored.

The blonde blinked at herself. "You know I realize now that we never paid much attention to you. And I know it usually looks like you're never in a good mood but it's not always true, like I'm not always this... great person everyone thought they saw. So, are you okay?" She asked, looking at him intently.

Dilandau looked at her and blinked in surprise as well. "Why're you asking me this?"

She bit her lip. "You're a person, and we're friends." Was her answer.

He just stared at her some more. Then he looked away and resumed looking bored. "It's not as persuasive as Hitomi's."

She felt a small stab, but then, noticing his slight grin, realized it was a joke. Suddenly she grinned on her own. "So then there is something bugging you. And you've already told Hitomi. What's wrong in the life of Dilandau Albatou?"

Dilandau turned his grin in her direction again. "Alright I'll tell you, but how about we exchange information then?"

"A trade?" She looked skeptical. "Are we having a conversation or gossiping about ourselves?"

Dilly just rolled his eyes. "Okay, now that you've agreed." He replied sarcastically. "I'm just, kind of having... a bit of girl trouble."

Millerna nearly choked. "How's that? Can't find any?" She said mockingly.

He shot her a sour look, obviously not amused. "I'm kinda hungry." He stated. As she was about to reply he went on. "For something foreign. Let's ditch this and go get something to eat."

The blonde looked appalled for a second. "Er... what about Hitomi? Shouldn't we stay and..." She trailed off, not sure what to say.

"Nah, she's okay I think, just needs to get out her anger on something, preferably not us." Dilandau said nonchalantly. After a moment of no reply he took in her nervous expression. "Oh right." He rolled his eyes again. "Never cut school before have you?"

Some more silence followed as Millerna stared at him unsurely. Before she could say anything he had gotten up and walked around the table to her side.

"Come on, lunch'll be over soon. It's easier to get out now." He stated, looking down at her.

"Wha-" She barely got a word out because he had grabbed her wrist and pulled her up and dragged her to the doors, heading for a hallway that was small and rarely used.

"All we have to do is make it down this way and make a left and use the stairs and there's an emergency exit." He said, red eyes glancing back at her as he spoke. Millerna nodded as he pulled her along.

In their haste, both teens failed to notice as an unidentified figure spotted them wandering the halls and had gotten out of their seat from inside one of the open class room doors to follow them. Just as Dilandau and Millerna opened the doulble doors to let themselves out the person called out to them at the top of the few steps.

"What's going on here?" The teacher asked and both students looked up in surprise.

"Busted." Dilandau muttered, still holding open the door partway.

Millerna just groaned to herself.

**xoxo**

Allen looked up briefly to see a blonde catch his eye. As soon as she noticed him however, she put her nose in the air and hurried along to next period. He made a frustrated noise and slipped away from the group of people he had been making jokes with.

'Geez, how can she avoid me? We live in the same house!' Allen thought angrily, making his way around to the back of one of the school buildings. And he had been in such a good mood before, getting Millerna to fall into his trap, only be reminded that his baby sister hadn't spoken to him in the past three days.

After looking around quickly with an aggravated expression he pulled out a box from his pocket. He then pulled out something from the box and stuck it in his mouth before shoving the box back into his back pocket. Then he reached into another pocket to pull out a lighter.

It had been a long time since Allen had smoked, he didn't find it beneficial to his looks and personality. He only smoked once in a while when he was really stressed or pissed off or both. This really wasn't one of those times though. Because he wasn't quite sure if he was stressed or angry.

The blonde was just about to light the cigarette, but he heard something and looked up to find it was only the wind blowing the leaves on nearby trees. He went back to his task.

"Allen." A voice said firmly, making his blue eyes slowly slide up to the face of the principal.

"Great." He said, running a hand through his hair, the cigarette still between his lips.

The older man shook his head. "I don't believe this, two in one day. I really wish I had stayed cooped up in that office now." He sighed. Then his gaze turned to the youth in front of him. "You're lucky it was me who caught you and not any other member of the faculty or it would be an automatic suspension."

Allen shrugged, pulled the cigarette away from his mouth. "Good, so I guess I'll just be on my way then."

"Nope. It's not that easy. You were still caught. Instead I'm just going to give you about a week of detention."

The Schezar stared at him. "What?"

"Just make sure you come when you get your slip. Don't worry about not having company; Van'll be there. We'll talk about this later. Now get to class."

Allen shot him a disdainful look before stalking away and Mr. Wanaki sighed when the student's back had turned.

**xoxo**

Meanwhile the younger Schezar sibling was blindly making her way through the crowds after spotting her brother and snubbing him. She headed for her locker, it was lucky she was in the right building.

After a minute she vaguely realized the late bell was ringing. She didn't pay attention, too busy trying to shuffle a billion books in and out of her locker without dropping a bunch of useless utensils like the calculator she never remembered to bring to math or the third notebook she was forced to bring to english every class even though it was completely empty and still brand new. When Celena finally had the things she needed in her arms and the things she didn't were still in the locker she shut it with a sigh of relief. Only to look up and see a slightly menacing figure.

"Why are you still in the halls? Loitering?" The woman asked with a glare.

"Uh, no. Just trying to get my books for class." Celena responded, keeping her cool. It wasn't her fault every teacher had two pages of school supplies needed for their class. "It's only been a minute since the bell." She pointed out.

"Yes, you're right." The woman said smartly. "And you had about five minutes inbetween classes to come here, get your things and get to class on time. I'll assume you were busy hanging out with friends instead of doing this uninterrupted."

"No, I was-" Celena tried to protest.

"It doesn't matter." She waved her hand dismissively. "It's just my job." She scribbled something on a small pad after getting the students name, tore off the piece of paper and handed it to her.

**xoxo**

**There are **times when you say things, and then later on you realize, you have no idea what it all meant. You have no idea what you were talking about, or supposed to be talking about in the first place. I think that's what the conversation with Celena and Dilly felt like. Although a lot was accomplished I suppose, it got where I wanted it to, kind of. Lesson learned: some friendships or relationships with people in general just kind of die, and you're lucky if you get any closure at all even if it's not how you wanted it to end.

You know what I realized? The teachers are absolutely the most annoying characters in this fic! I don't have the patience or energy to actually be specific about them or at least give them a gender and name! I just don't really care about them. I'm not sure if anyone notices those things, like I might've said Millerna and Allen had a female teacher at the beginning and a few chapters later I started going 'he' all over the place. Whatever...

I know... isn't that a strange name I gave the principal? It makes me want to change it, but its been that way since chapter two, when he was first introduced but never really used. Things are changing and people are changing, unfortunately that isn't a completely realistic view in high school. Teenagers are too two-dimensional and vain. I speak from experience. I am seventeen.

Anyway, this is it. Strangely this turned out to be the longest chapter of my fic now. New record, great. Next chapter: Saturday detention for everyone. It's probably the only time they'll all be together in the same space and have to interact with each other. It should interesting I'm sure. Although I don't know when that chapter will be up.

Ciao.

**3 - 25 - 06**

**5:12 pm**


	14. Chapter 14

**xoxo**

**Title-Are you stalking me?!**

**Chapter 14**

**By-Moon Prynces**

**xoxo**

An alarm beeping loudly caused a figure tangled in a pile of sheets and blankets to struggle and finally make her way to the top. Hitomi sat up and blinked, still in a daze. After a moment she turned off the alarm and looked around her room, until realization hit her.

"Saturday detention." She muttered to herself, getting out of bed and heading for the bathroom.

**xoxo**

A blonde walked quickly down the street, fidgeting with her nails the entire time. After ten minutes she arrived at her destination. Looking up at the house in mild curiosity she walked up to ring the doorbell.

Millerna sighed to herself and waited. And waited and waited. She tried ringing the bell again.

Eons later the front door slowly opened to reveal a dark figure scratching the back of his head in his boxers.

The blonde quickly turned around. "Dilandau, what are you doing?" She scolded, turning her head to the side, trying to get the point across.

Dilly was too busy yawning. "Sleeping. What do you want?" Was his response as he turned away and begun to retreat back inside.

Millerna heard him and tried to follow without looking at him directly. "Get your clothes on you idiot." She ordered.

"For what?" He asked lazily, walking into the kitchen and searching for a box of frosted flakes cereal. After finding said item and pouring it into a bowl he grabbed a carton of milk and a spoon and sat down at the kitchen table.

She watched him with annoyance. "We have to get to school." She replied with her hands on her hips and a frown on her face.

As he reached for the carton of milk he found his hand closing in on nothing but air. He blinked, wondering where it had gone. But after looking up at his house guest he saw she was holding it out of his reach.

Dilandau stared at her, waiting. Millerna sighed and handed him back the milk, then took a seat as well.

"School? Why? Isn't it Saturday?" He questioned, his mouth full of cereal and milk.

"We have detention." She stated gravely.

After a moment to process this, and to finish chewing and swallowing his food, Dilandau started laughing. "Are you kidding?" He blurted out before chuckling a bit more and continuing his meal.

"You have to come with me! I know you'd rather go back to sleep than actually go to detention like you're supposed to." She said, emphasizing the last part. "But you can't let me go alone! What am I supposed to do for five hours? It's bad enough everyone's going to be shooting me looks, since I'm supposed to be perfect and have an immaculate reputation and all. I hate to admit it but I'm not strong enough to deal with people." She continued to ramble, whilst Dilandau sat there eating and occasionally glancing up at Millerna.

When he was finished, she was staring at him pleadingly. "Fine, whatever." He shrugged, getting up to put his empty bowl in the sink.

"Thank you so much!" Millerna shouted, jumping up and hugging him.

Since she couldn't quite see his face she missed the perverted grin. "So, in exchange, wanna help me take a shower?"

The blonde recoiled and glared. "Count on you to ruin a good moment."

**xoxo**

Celena had no choice but to sneak out of the house, before anyone was awake. Unfortunately for her Allen was already up and sitting in the living room, watching Saturday morning cartoons.

"Hey." He greeted, not even looking up.

She froze at hearing her brother's voice. "Uh..." She mumbled.

Allen took his gaze away from the TV to stare at his baby sister. He was about to ask where she was going but thought against it, she might still be pissed and he would just come across as controlling or something. So instead he only nodded at her and then went back to watching TV

Celena was a little surprised. At first it seemed strange but then she realized it would be easier to slip away. So she left the house without looking back or thinking about her brother's odd behavior.

**xoxo**

The principal stood at a window in one of the school buildings, watching as a few students trudged their way onto the school grounds. After a few minutes he left the window to enter the only classroom that would be used this weekend. Somehow there hadn't been as many detention seekers so only one room was needed for the ten to fifteen students that would be in school on a Saturday morning.

He walked to the designated classroom and went to a corner to lean on the teacher's desk and observe the students coming in. Since the lights weren't turned on because it was only seven thirty on a Saturday morning the shadows were in his corner.

Hitomi cautiously walked in, looked around and took a seat in the back. As soon as she sat down she dropped her head on the desk and covered her face, trying to get some more sleep.

A minute later Celena stalked in with two other students. She chose a seat in the front and looked around nervously. She looked down in her bag and pulled out the only thing she had thought to bring, a magazine.

Then Van marched in, still angry from yesterday. He glared at nothing in particular and also took a seat in the back, two away from Hitomi, who had yet to pick up her head.

Another minute later Dilandau strolled in lazily, with Millerna hanging onto his arm as if her life depended on it. She looked around and loosened her grip slightly. They took a seat somewhere in the middle of the room next to each other.

A few other students came in and took seats elsewhere.

Mr. Wanaki regarded the students and was about to officially start detention but paused as another figure walked up to the door.

Allen stepped into the classroom and shuddered. It'd been so long since he had to do this. Either he hadn't done much wrong in the past few months or he just never got caught... until now. He was about to drop into the nearest seat but once looking over the room he spotted someone...

"Celena?" His shocked voice caused that person to look up. "What're you doing here?"

"Uh..." She stared at her brother, unsure what to say. She looked around frantically and noticed someone else.

Dilandau was looking at her curiously, resting his head in his palm. A blonde girl was sitting on his left, she was also staring, but it was aimed at Allen. These little discoveries were not noticed by the only two students in the back row. Hitomi had already dozed off slightly and Van was still staring angrily out the windows.

This exchange was interrupted as the principal finally stepped away from the teacher's desk and walked to the front of the room.

"Take a seat Allen." He said, his usual smile not present.

The blonde nodded and glanced around the room. Although he spotted Van like Mr. Wanaki had told him about Allen saw the expression on his best friends face and chose to take a seat on the other side of the room instead.

(Go to the bottom to see what the hell I did...)

And thus the principal began his speech about detention and such. After five minutes of that and stern looks around the room he stopped. He walked down the aisle on Celena's left. She watched as he walked all the way to the back, along with Dilandau, Millerna, Allen and two others.

He stopped in front of Hitomi's desk. She hadn't moved once in the past ten minutes. Suddenly everyone in the room jumped out of their skin as he slapped his hand down on her table. Hitomi jerked up to stare at him.

"Uh..." She looked around the room and noticed Dilandau grinning and making cut throat motions at her until Millerna saw and hit him. She also noticed Van out of the corner of her eye, staring at the scene.

Mr. Wanaki bent his head down so his was looking into her eyes. "This is detention Ms. Kanzaki, not nap time." He said quietly, so only she could hear. "I'm sorry for startling you." He smiled slightly before standing back up. He turned around and began walking back away as he spoke. "Allen, Van, I want to see you two in the hallway."

The two reluctantly followed the principal out of the room. After shutting the door and turning to the two, the principal paused.

"We need to talk about your behavior the past few weeks." He started off.

Van glared defiantly and crossed his arms. Allen was attentive. There was no way to escape Mr. Wanaki so they might as well get this little talk over with. Then they could ignore him and life would go on.

"It's time you two started to grow up, and although you've both been fairly quiet, no pranks or complaints, I need to make something clear." He looked to each student slowly. "I can't keep playing this game with you two. Nor with anyone. You can't expect me to protect you all the time and for us to joke around. You are students and I am the principal."

Van twitched. Allen stared at a point past the principal's head.

"Allen you're a junior. You should quit this lazy attitude and start working. Haven't you given any thought to college?" He asked, looking to the blonde.

That was the last straw.

"What the hell is this?" Was yelled. Two faces turned to look at a slightly red Allen Schezar. "Who are you to tell me it's time to grow up? Spare us all the speech about how you're looking out for us and crap."

**xoxo**

The classroom was pretty much quiet. Millerna was staring at the front door, wondering what was going on. A few students had put on headphones or pulled out a book or magazine to read. Dilandau was motioning for Hitomi to join them in the seat next to him. Celena was getting nervous.

A minute later there was a loud bang that made everyone jump out of their seats. Then a calm looking Allen walked into the room, followed by Van, who was grinning and Mr. Wanaki looking disgruntled.

"You are to remain in those seats you have chosen for the rest of time being. Or least it better be that way when I get back." Then the principal looked up at the clock. "Your five hours begin now."

Half of them groaned, realizing they wasted half an hour for nothing because it didn't even start until just then.

**xoxo**

Twenty minutes later Hitomi still hadn't taken up Dilly on his offer. It wasn't that she was afraid of how big and menacing and imposing the principal had seemed, oh no. She just felt like going back to that nap so she remained in the back of the room with her head on the table. Unfortunately she couldn't seem to get back to sleep.

Millerna and Dilandau were so bored out of their minds that they turned to scrawling x's and o's in an attempt at tic-tac-toe, on the school desks. Not a great idea...

Allen was sitting at his desk, leaning back in his seat and staring at the back of his sister's head. He hadn't bothered to talk to her since he got back in the room. Celena was trying to pretend she was busy by randomly flipping pages in her magazine, without actually seeing them.

Van had settled for propping his feet on the desk, hands folded on his stomach and staring out the window.

Another ten minutes and Allen was completely bored as well. He sat up suddenly and looked around the room. He spotted Miss Aston, who looked like she was having a good time talking to- who? Dilandau?

He blinked at the discovery. Then again he did have a deal with her, it wouldn't be good for him to open his mouth and ruin it now. He'd just have to wait a little longer.

Then he noticed the brunette just over his shoulder. He stared at Hitomi as she shifted uncomfortably in her seat. 'Not bad.' He thought to himself. 'Too bad Van's got dibs on her.' He glanced at his friend who looked like he was gonna jump out the window any second. 'Even though he doesn't know yet.' And with that Allen grinned.

"Hey, Hitomi right?" He leaned towards her, his voice a bit above a whisper.

The brunette blinked open her eyes. She slowly rose up from her head on the table and turned to see a blonde-haired, blue-eyed boy grinning at her.

"Huh?" She let escape her lips.

"So what's up with you and Van?" Allen asked, jerking his chin in the direction of his best friend. "Should I start setting up your wedding?" He winked.

Hitomi stared at him before his implication hit her, a little to late I might add. "What?" She shouted.

A few heads jerked in her direction. Allen waved to the small audience. Among them were Millerna, looking a little self-conscious, a girl sitting behind Millerna, and Dilandau, who shot him a warning look.

Allen was confused at first. Dilandau? Threatening him over some girl? But he ignored it and hopped into the seat behind him, which was right next to Hitomi. Then he threw a careless arm around her shoulders.

"Anyway, if there's anything you need, like say some blackmail worthy information on our dear Fanel then don't hesitate to ask." He said as Hitomi looked completely confused and trapped.

Van had heard his name somewhere in the air and turned to see the scene. "Were you saying something about me, Allen?" He called from the other side of the room.

The blonde shook his head and smiled. "No, of course not! I was just having a chat with your girl here." He started off.

"Cut it out. She's not my anything." Van responded, shoving his nose in the air.

Hitomi glared at him but said nothing. Then she turned to Allen and gave him a pointed look. "Do you mind not touching me?"

Dilandau grinned from his seat at the face-fault from Allen. Celena shut her eyes and tried to pretend she didn't want to turn around and see what was going on.

"Shouldn't we help her out?" Millerna whispered to Dilly, who didn't bother to glance at her.

"Give her some credit. She knows what she's doing. Besides, they're both pretty harmless." Dilandau paused as he remembered something. "Actually..."

They were jerked out of their thoughts as Van started laughing out loud. The girl sitting behind Millerna was close to passing out. Then Allen realized something.

"Dilandau." He called after releasing Hitomi from his overly friendly grip. Celena jerked her head in the direction of the voice and then to the person he was addressing. "I'm wondering why Mr. Wanaki didn't feel the need to talk to you before." The silver-haired boy shrugged. "Been failing at your duties to cause trouble?" Allen grinned.

"How come he hasn't said anything to me?" Millerna whispered, sounding indignant. They were partners in a dinky class project after all. He could at least be civil and say hi or something. Being ignored was irritating. Although that wasn't what he was doing...

Dilandau looked at her blankly, then turned to Allen with a smirk. "She wants to know why you haven't said hi to her yet." He said, jerking a thumb in Millerna's direction.

She gasped and shoved him sharply so he fell out of his chair and onto the floor. A few of them laughed as he groaned, rubbed his aching... everything, and shot her a glare, which she returned.

Among the laughing he noticed Celena, as did Allen. Both of them looked at her. Van noticed her as well.

"Celena? How come you got detention?" He questioned her in surprise, making her jump.

Hitomi and Millerna looked over to the girl, both of them recognizing her but not saying anyhing about it. Instead of one of the six well known students breaking the silence it was the girl who was sitting behind Millerna, the unnamed girl who was obviously a fan...

She gave a small sigh and looked with adoring eyes at Van. A guy who sat a few seats ahead of Allen made a disgusted look. Van glanced at the girl briefly. Then he looked around to witness Hitomi roll her eyes.

Celena, however, was eternally grateful from not being pulled into this warped group chatroom... literally. The most this group was exchanging were looks instead of words. It just seemed to be too strange for any of them to deal with.

For a moment there was silence. Van was looking at Hitomi. Allen and Dilandau were still staring at Celena before Dilly turned to Millerna. The fangirl behind Millerna had turned her stare to Allen now. The guy a few seats ahead of Allen had gone back to listening to music from his chosen music device. The two other random students hadn't cared to focus any attention to whatever was happening around them. They either had their own music as well or were too engrossed in a book.

'I wonder if he's...' Celena thought to herself, turning back around in her seat, staring at the chalkboard.

Van had caught Allen's eye and motioned for the blonde to sit next to him. He wanted to have a friendly little chat with his bestest best friend...

Instead Allen shook his head and pointed to Hitomi, who took no notice, grinned and made a perverted motion. Van stared at him, cheeks a slight red.

Millerna had also made a motion, but it was to get Hitomi to join her and Dilly. The brunette refused and then suddenly grinned.

"Hey, Allen is it?" Hitomi asked abruptly, jerking her head to look at him. Allen had to quickly cut his show for Van short so she wouldn't see.

"Yeah babe?" He answered with his grin still in place.

She grimaced at his term of endearment but didn't say anything. "You and Millerna are..." She trailed off realizing the word "friend" wouldn't quite fit.

"Aquainted?" He supplied when he spotted her thoughtful look.

"Sure." She shook her head, getting back to the point. "Is there something wrong with you two? I know already that you don't really get along and-"

Allen held up a hand and cut her off. "Actually things are really good with us."

When he didn't continue, Hitomi's skeptical look turned into a confused expression. "You and Millerna are getting along?"

"Is it that hard to believe?" Allen replied defensively.

She didn't answer at first and it only annoyed him. Then, "Well, I guess I don't know you enough myself to say anything. Maybe you're only a jerk to her, for some reason." A pause. "So then... I'm not sure what to ask first, why don't you like her?"

He stared at her a moment, lost in green eyes. She looked so honest, and intense. Then he looked away to catch the shimmer of blonde hair as Millerna laughed at something Dilandau said. Hitomi also glanced at her friend, wondering is there was something more between the two.

Then Allen quickly averted his gaze back to Hitomi. "Her attitude." He said simply, which only confused the girl. But he waved his hand dismissively. "Next question." He ordered.

Hitomi didn't bother arguing with him. "Alright, so why are you two on such amiable terms all of a sudden?" She asked.

He shrugged. "We're working on a project together for history class."

Her eyebrows shot up. "Why in the world would she agree just because of that...?"

In another corner of the room Van was wondering what embarrassing little secrets Allen was feeding the Kanzaki girl. While he twidled his thumbs he watched as Dilandau chatted with Millerna Aston. He scoffed, thinking his best friend and the school's pyromaniac had either gone soft or gone mental, or even both.

The student sitting directly in front of the classroom door looked up from his book as the doorknob turned and it opened to reveal the principal.

Allen and Hitomi looked up from their strange conversation, along with Millerna and Dilly, and the rest of the occupants of the room.

Mr. Wanaki sighed as he walked in and faced the class. Then he gave a weak smile. "Sorry, I can't help it, but I know what it feels like to be here." A few of the students gave strange and/or confused looks. "I don't want you here anymore than you want to be here." Then he walked back to the door and held it open. "So go home." He said in a whiny voice.

Allen and Van grinned from their seats and shot each other a victorious look. They were the first two to skitter out of the room, both giving the principal a mock salute before making it through the doorway, which the old man returned with a friendly smile.

Dilandau smirked and nodded to the old man as he walked out. And the rest of the students followed, without really looking at him.

**xoxo**

Millerna looked up in surprise and a small gasp was heard. Allen waved at her in a friendly manner. The girl just stared at him in horror.

"What are you..." She trailed off, trying to keep the door closed as much as possible with her body blocking his view.

"I was thinking, maybe we should get started on that project." He grinned at her. "So I decided to drop by."

For Allen it wasn't uncommon for him to be making "house calls" for pretty girls, but this was slightly different. He had finally decided that waiting around for an opportunity didn't suit him. So he found out, with a bit of digging, Millerna's home address, to pay the poor girl a visit.

"How do you know where I live?" Was the immediate question.

"What? Are you in a protection program? It's not that hard to find out." He left it unspoken that for him, information was easy to come by when you needed it. It would make him look cocky, and that would make her mad, and then she would never let him into her house.

"But, er, it's not due for another month!" She protested, looking down hopelessly at her attire.

He seemed to notice her clothing, or lack of it, also. But quickly his eyes flickered back up to her face after a glimpse at a white tank top with thin straps that revealed a bit more cleavage than she would've liked, a pair of fitted black tights that stopped just below her knee and the fuzzy slippers she always wore at home.

"I..." She tried to come up with an excuse to get rid of Allen, so her Sunday afternoon wouldn't be ruined or drenched in schoolwork.

"Why not now? We could just get it over with and then never have to speak, or at least be civil to each other, cuz our deal would be off." He argued, very persuasively.

Millerna was torn. He did make a good point. Although she really didn't want to let him in now. She wasn't even prepared! At home her defenses were down and she was careless. Not to mention she was relieved a lot of stress with this cease fire so if that would end just because they finished the project she'd rather wait until the last minute.

He saw her indecision though. "C'mon, we could just start it today. Plan everything, it'd probably only take an hour or less."

She slowly nodded her head. "Fine, sure." And then she stepped aside and opened the door wider for him.

He was so ready to start this plan of his, was what he thought as he mentally rubbed his hands together in anticipation, and walked through the doorway. After she closed the door and he took off his shoes he grinned at her back as she led him to the living room.

He didn't really expect much. He saw that the TV was on and Millerna quickly walked over and turned it off before he realized what she had been watching in her idle boredom.

She stood in front of Allen, as he made himself comfortable on a couch, arms already spread out on top. "Okay... sorry, we don't really have anything to eat or I'd offer you a snack." She fidgeted slightly and Allen stared at her with dead eyes. "My mom just went out to the store-"

Allen looked around and interrupted. "It's alright. So where's your dad? Or siblings?"

She looked surprised at his question. "How'd you know I have-" And was once again cut off.

"The pictures." He used an arm that rested on the sofa to point.

"Oh right." Millerna decided to take a seat on a single sofa, away from him. "Well my sisters don't live at home anymore." Then she added, just as casually, "Neither does my dad."

He turned to look at her impassive face. "So you wanna get started?"

**xoxo**

Half an hour later Millerna had completely fallen into the routine of schoolwork and Allen was going along with whatever she said, obviously not really caring about their project.

She suddenly looked up at him from her kneeling position, hovering over the coffee table inbetween them. Allen sat across from her, still on the couch, but held his face in a palm, his elbow resting on his knee.

"If you find this so boring, why'd you even come over and suggest it?" She prompted.

He quickly tried to compose himself, then stopped and grinned at her. "Why? Should I have come over and suggested we do something else?"

Millerna pulled back with a surprised expression, her cheeks slightly pink. Then she shook her head and slapped a hand over her forehead. "Great. It's like your a hormone driven junior high student." She complained, facing downward.

"Well, I do have hormones." Allen agreed, spreading his arms out and moving back into the sofa.

She looked up at him. "And you haven't gotten enough action in so long you feel the need to involve me in your flirtations and fantasies?" She asked, lifting an eyebrow.

Abruptly Allen went serious. "Really though, how far have you gone with a guy?"

She couldn't do anything but stare at him. Then she went back to writing something on the peper containing their project outline. "You know, that's none of your business."

He smirked at her resistance to answer the question. It could only mean she hadn't done anything at all, or maybe she just really kept these things to herself.

Millerna kept shuffling the few papers that were on the table without thinking. 'What the hell is he trying to do? He shouldn't be asking those kind of things!' She thought to herself, not really angry nor was she frantic.

Allen looked around once more. "So shouldn't your mom be home by now?"

"Oh." Millerna also looked up, wondering why she hadn't heard the back door open yet. "I don't know. I guess she's getting carried away, shopping for shoes and outfits more than food." She laughed. 'But thankfully not for a husband for me.' She thought, that Dryden guy coming to mind.

Allen groped for something else to talk about, something away from schoolwork. 'Maybe if I can distract her enough...' Then, "So where are your sisters? College?"

Millerna suddenly stood up, about to walk away. "Oh. No, they're both out of college now." And then she dropped a 'be right back' and headed to the bathroom.

A few minutes later she walked back in to see Allen up and staring intensely at the display of photographs on the mantle and tables. He grinned at her when he noticed her presence before resuming his own agenda.

"How many sisters do you have anyway?" He questioned, causing Millerna to walk over.

"Only two." She pointed. "The oldest is Marlene. And then there's Eries."

"Then whose that?" Allen pointed to another blonde woman.

"That's my mom." She gave him a weird look.

"But she's... so young." He stated, gazing at the picture before turning to the blonde next to him.

"She had Marlene when she eighteen, so yea, she is younger than some mothers." Millerna moved back towards the coffee table.

"And who's this?" His voice came out slightly teasing.

She looked up to see him pointing at another little girl splashing around in a small, plastic pool. "Uh... that's me..." She turned away quickly. "Can we get back to work now? We're almost done with this."

'Damn, I have to do something before I leave. Rattle her somehow.' Allen thought, going back to his previous seat, then rethinking it, he sat down on the floor acorss from her.

Fifteen minutes later they had finished the outline for their project and Allen had yet to make a move. Even Millerna coud feel it. He was just twitching, wanting to do something. Thankfully, their time was up.

Millerna stood up, with the papers in hand. "Let me just go upstairs and make a copy for you." She said, turning to walk away.

"What?" Allen also stood. "Why?"

"So you know what we're doing." She turned back to raise an eyebrow at him. "And in case this one gets lost or something." She added.

Allen followed her all the way to the foot of the stairs. Millerna turned sharply as she reached the stairs and he stopped just in front of her.

"Why are you following me?" She demanded, holding the papers tightly in her hand.

He didn't bother answering, figuring this was the only chance he'd get, and fixed a long stare on her. A few moments passed and neither had said anything or moved. Millerna was glaring back at him, trying to use her telepathic powers to get him to back off. Obviously it wasn't working.

Allen was close to sighing over the stupidity of this situation, none the less, he moved forward, literally. He leaned in toward Millerna, which only made her move away... until her back hit the wall.

But instead of letting him corner her, Millerna slid down the wall and was about to make an escape after coming up with this duck-and-run scenario in her head.

And Allen, being smarter than she thought, crouched and immediately placed his hands on her shoulders and shoved her, somewhat harshly, into the stairs that had been on his left.

They both knew where this was going. It only took Allen a few seconds to press his lips to hers, even though Millerna showed no signs of giving up her weak struggle against him.

Millerna was too busy yelling at herself. How could she possibly have thought this little truce thing was gonna work? Now what? Was he gonna go to school tomorrow and exaggerate to everyone about this situation? And everyone would believe him because half the school proabbly knew they were in the same history class and willingly chose to be partners.

After a little while it didn't even seem like a kiss, it was only Allen doing all the work, obviously putting his skills to use on this task. The only thing that was wrong was she hadn't responded like he thought she might, so maybe she really was as inexperienced as he first guessed.

Leaning back farther into the stairs did Millerna no good either because he only leaned in again, closer than before. Eyes shut tightly, Millerna didn't realize what was happening, and neither did he. Until they both felt the wetness on their cheeks.

Allen finally pulled off, only an inch from her face, to see she really had been crying. He stared at her blankly for a moment and Millerna lay sprawled on the stairs, her hands on both sides looking awkward.

She stared at him sadly, unable to move. 'They're right. Why would dad wanna come home to this?' She thought dejectedly.

The sound of a door opening brought both of them out of their stupor. Allen jumped back, further away.

"Millerna? You in there? Wanna help me out with the bags or what?" Arianna called, just stepping through the back door into the kitchen.

Millerna only looked down a second before looking up to see the front door slowly swinging closed on its own. She sighed and quickly rubbed her hands over her face before standing up and heading for the kitchen. She forgot all about the papers lying on the floor.

**xoxo**

**Guess what? **You're now at the **bottom. **Here:

---door----front of classroom

-----1------#------#------C------#

-----#------#------2------#------3

-----#------M------D------#------#

-----#------4------#------#------A

-----V------#------#------H------#

---------------------------------------P

Windows are on the left side, next to Van

#- empty student desks

P- Principal

1, 2, 3, 4- random students

And in case it's not obvious,

A- Allen

C- Celena

D- Dilandau

H- Hitomi

M- Millerna

V- Van

**xoxo**

Okay, so sue me. The detention scene didn't turn out so great so I ended it to stop to the massive amounts of blood flowing from my fic. It just seemed... so difficult to try and shove all their personalities and characters into one scene... There never was any common plot for each couple and the friendships, so now I realize that it was kinda wrong, to try and push them together and interact all at the same time. Sorry for such a crappy scene. Maybe I should just stick to the two or three person per scene thing. And then maybe by the end one room will be able to hold them all together? Sorry for messing that up for you guys.

Okay, it's official. I have no idea what I'm doing. I look back at my notes and find that I was so dam repititive. I'm not quite sure where I'm going with this... I cut out two scenes that should have been put into this chapter, but I think it was getting too long and I got myself confused. And I really don't feel like rereading this because the detention scene makes me want to kill myself, ugh.

I don't know why anyone bothers giving me suggestions since I don't deal well with being told what I should do to my fics... I have a problem there... Anyway if you find any mistakes and stuffs... tell me so I can fix 'em.

So yeah... well, I guess we'll just have to see where this leads us... I think I'll try to continue DC because people... keep reviewing and asking me about it. Guilt doesn't gnaw at me though, just the disappointment in myself for giving things up when I used to love them so much.

Ciao.

**5 - 20 - 06**

**11:16 am**


	15. Chapter 15

**xoxo**

**Title-Are you stalking me?!**

**Chapter 15**

**By-Moon Prynces**

**xoxo**

By now everyone had gotten over Hitomi's new look, although there were some guys who were always hanging around, trying to coax her into a date or giving them her phone number. But every time she only shook her head with a straight face and kept walking. It wasn't just in school anymore though, just about everywhere she went. And Van wasn't the only one to notice her eyes. It was really what drew most people in.

She darted past another guy stationed near the classroom door with her head down and pretended to miss the 'Hey!' he shouted to get her attention. She quickly went to her seat and sat down.

Once again, Van was already present, in his seat and this time with a pair of headphones on and bobbing his head as he stared out the window. Hitomi almost didn't notice him, as he was pretty quiet and... well, unnoticeable.

Despite their relatively bad terms, she turned around to greet him.

"Hey." She said with a wave when she caught his eye.

He paused, pulled the headphones around his neck and looked at her. "Hey." Then he grinned. "Have fun at detention?"

She made a face. "Loads of fun. I'm just so lucky that I got to sit next to your buddy Allen." She said, turning around slightly in a nonchalant manner.

Van narrowed his eyes. "What exactly did he tell you anyway?"

Hitomi waved a hand. "Nothing really." Then, "But I'm surprised you were one to make breakfast in your boxers and watch Saturday morning cartoons."

"What?" He asked, slightly confused and wondering if Allen made up anything and told her.

She turned back to face him. "Okay, I made up the cartoon thing. He didn't say that." The brunette looked around, class had yet to begin. "But the other thing..."

He grinned. "Well if you really wanna see if it's true or not maybe you should come visit me." Van watched as her eyes widened at his teasing.

She smacked his arm. "Yeah right, like I need to go blind. You must be as scrawny as my little brother."

"Oh yeah?" The dark-haired youth raised a brow. "I bet your brother doesn't have this." And he grabbed her hand to sprawl over his abs.

Hitomi was pretty surprised at his move. She didn't move a finger, but it didn't matter because she still felt his skin through the shirt. She pulled away a second after his action.

He went on. "So there. I do work out."

Green eyes only stared at him some more. "Maybe I should come check out where you live sometime." Hitomi said as she turned back around in her seat; class was about to begin.

Van stared at the back of her head and blinked. 'Was I just flirting with her?' He thought to himself.

Trying to focus on the board and teacher proved to be difficult. 'Well... that's never happened before.' Hitomi thought. 'But then again... I've never flirted back with anyone.' She made a horrified face. 'Oh god! Is that what I was doing? I was flirting with him?'

A few moments later. 'Oh, calm down. At least it's better than the both of us throwing darts at each other.' She thought again.

'It's not like there's a future between us. The newly reformed geek and a guy from the popular crowd? Wow that's a cliché.' Van thought. 'I guess she's not a complete bitch... might as well get her aquainted with the right people.' Then the idea struck him. 'That's right! Now that she looks... better, she definitely belongs in the crowd with me and Allen!'

So... Van took it upon himself the duty to settling Hitomi with the popular crowds.

At the end of class, he tapped Hitomi on the shoulder as she was getting up.

"Hm?" She turned around.

"Hey, how about we hang out after school today?" He suggested with a grin.

Hitomi stared at him while gathering her things. "What? Why?" She asked, looking confused.

"Just meet me at the gate when you get out." He waved as he left, a grin still in place.

She just watched as he left and wondered what the hell was going on. Their relationship was just too weird.

**xoxo**

A blonde walked down the hallway in a fidgety manner. She walked by without looking up, wondering if the people looking at her knew anything.

Was anyone whispering? Did they already hear? It was literally stressing Millerna to the point of being physically sick. She kept rushing to the bathroom to stare at her reflection and wash her hands from the sticky sweat that came with her sense of dread and nervousness. It felt like someone was watching her from behind, but she just couldn't turn around to check. Her suspicions weren't necessary though.

She finally glanced up to see someone she recognized. The blonde feigned a happy smile and greeted the other girl.

"Hi. Your Celena, right?" Millerna said, walking up to the girl at her locker.

Celena looked up. "Yeah. Hi." She regarded Millerna carefully. She definitely knew she'd met this girl before. But that was before she knew she was associated with Dilandau.

Celena wondered if he was going out with this girl, Millerna she remembered. Or was it the other girl, Hitomi? Maybe that was how he worked. He moved from one girl to the next after he got whatever pleasure he wanted out of the semi-relationship.

Before she realized it, the words were coming out her mouth. "How's Dilandau?" She asked.

Millerna looked at her strangely. "He's... fine, I suppose. You know him?"

Celena tried to be nonchalant about it. "Yeah, kind of."

The two blondes paused as an uncomfortable silence prevailed between them in the noisy hallway.

"Well, I have to go. I'll see you around." Celena said. Millerna waved as the girl took off behind her.

'Why was she being so strange? About Dilandau, too. Wait... didn't he say he was having "girl troubles"?' Millerna thought to herself. 'That's it! It's her!'

She smiled to herself as she walked down the hall, forgetting about her ealier problem and wondering why Dilandau and Celena were acting strange when it came to the other.

Celena however was... 'God... Even if I wanted to be mean and bitter I couldn't pull it off.' Then she sighed. 'But then again, I have no reason to be mad at her, or Hitomi. It's not like dating my... ex-friend is a crime. I'm so stupid.' She shook her head.

'I really need to stop thinking about this. And him too.' Celena stopped her rambling and focused on getting to her next class, on time.

**xoxo**

"Dilandau? Is that you?" Van joked upon seeing the silver-haired boy walk closer to the spot he was standing.

"Haven't talked in a while, have we?" Dilandau grinned as they slapped hands in greeting.

"I saw you were at detention on Saturday. Been a regular?" Van asked.

The other shook his head. "First time I've been caught at anything this year." After receiving a look he conceded. "Okay, second if you count the volleyball net catching on fire in the gymnasium. But seriously, I have no idea how that happened." He grinned through the lie.

Van shook his head. "You were with Millerna Aston. You two dating or something?"

Dilandau's face went from playful to deadpan with a raised brow.

"Right..." Van smiled and looked around.

"Is it really that hard to believe I'd have a platonic relationship with a girl?" The silver-haired boy questioned.

Van looked at him and started laughing. Dilandau shoved him, but that didn't stop Van from tipping over onto the floor as he kept laughing. When he stopped he sat up.

"First of all, you don't have relationships with girls. They're either flings or make-out sessions that you happen onto by chance." Van stated through his wide smile.

Dilly grimaced at his words and realized how true they actually were. But it was just too late to fix some mistakes. Then he smirked.

"I'm also friends," He started, stressing the last word. "With Hitomi Kanzaki. Need an autographed picture to hang on our wall or put on your bedside."

Van laughed again. "No, I'm hanging out with her today anyway."

At that Dilandau's eyes popped open and then narrowed. "What? Like a date? Don't tell me she actually agreed to that."

The other boy could only find amusement in Dilly's tone. "What's up with you? Of course it's not a date." Van shrugged, still sitting on the ground.

"Just watch what you do to her." He said carefully.

Van raised an eyebrow. "Are you assuming the role of the overprotective brother here? Since when did you get so close to her?"

It was at that moment that Allen showed up, pausing as he came upon the scene of Van sitting on the grass with an amused expression and Dilandau looking threatening as he stood nearby.

"What's up?" He asked after arriving.

"Dilandau was just warning me not to make a move on his sister." Van laughed.

Now this was just bittersweet. Allen and Dilandau exchanged looks, which did not look too friendly. Both recalling situations with the younger Schezar, Celena, whom neither of them was on good terms with lately. Van noticed this but didn't say anything as they looked away.

"Well, I see you're in a better mood since Saturday." Allen commented, looking to his best friend.

Van cocked his head with a smirk. "I could say the same to you. And I thought you were the calm, level-headed one. What happened Saturday?"

Allen only shook his head. Then he stopped. "Wait... Dilandau has a sister?" He turned to the other boy.

"I meant Hitomi Kanzaki. Apparently they're pretty close." Van responded.

Dilandau looked at the blonde pointedly. "I'm also close with Millerna Aston."

Allen, who had been chuckling slightly, stopped short and froze on the spot, wondering if she said anything to anyone yet. They once again eyed each other carefully.

"What the hell's going on? Are we all really getting this worked up over a few girls?" Van asked, trying to snap them out of their hostile behavior.

"I'm not trying to start anything here. You know I'd rather fight with you, than against you." Dilandau started out. "But you two better not be fucking up with these girls, because you know I could take you any day. They're decent people and they don't deserve to take your shit." He stated.

Van and Allen could only blink at his "oh-so eloquently put" threat.

"You're right, I am close with them, maybe not family though. So don't mess with them." Dilly said again. He grinned maniacally before turning around and walking away.

The blonde, for one, was left wondering if he should be regretting his actions. Was it still a good idea to carry on with this? Someone threatening him was not a big deal. But having Dilandau give him a warning... He wasn't someone Allen wanted to mess with if he could help. It was better to have him as an ally than an enemy.

Van on the other hand knew he had nothing to worry about. His intentions towards Hitomi were nothing serious or harmful. It was more like a little side project to him. Besides, he was practically going out of his way to form a friendship with her. Things would work out just fine. So he shrugged off Dilandau's comments.

Dilly, on the other hand, had absolutely no idea what had gotten into him. Once he was far away enough and realized what he'd done, the smile was stricken and replaced by an almost horrified expression. What in the world was going on? Since when did he start looking out for anyone else? The only person he ever really cared about was himself. So was it a good thing now that two girls had come into the picture and... did he really see them as family? No, because he didn't really hold family in high regards, just saying they were friends meant a whole lot more for him.

Yeah, it had to be a good thing. Besides occasionally hanging out with Fanel and Schezar he never really had anyone. It was nice to have people to depend on... So he'd done the whole loner bit for a while, and now it was time for change. And who better to brighten his days than Millerna and Hitomi? Friendly, kind and certainly not scared or turned off by his badboy demeanor. He was lucky they knew him before even knowing him.

Now the only thing that nagged at him was guilt over what happened with Celena Schezar. But as stated before, it was too late to change some things.

'I can't believe I blew it with her.' He thought, still walking away.

**xoxo**

Allen jogged slightly to catch up to the pace of another blonde in the halls. Millerna looked down and kept walking. She hoped no one noticed them. Her self-consciousness was getting to her. It was starting to feel like everyone was staring at her, or at least giving her small glances every minute.

"Hey, what's up?" Allen asked casually.

Millerna glanced at him out of the corner of her eyes. "Nothing really." She answered stiffly, although Allen didn't notice.

It was then that Allen realized she hadn't told anyone. It was all over her, like some secret she was bursting to scream about. She would probably explode with some... provocation, he thought evilly.

"You know, it was great hanging out at your house the other day. Even if it was just for a dumb school project. We should do it again." He said with a grin as they kept walking.

She twitched involuntarily. "Of course we'll have to. We still... need to finish the project." Millerna replied, the miserable truth coming out of mouth.

"I have a question though." He persisted. She pretended to look around for something or someone. "Are you okay? You seemed a little shaken when I left." He asked with a sadistic smirk.

Millerna stared down at the ground hard. Then she finally answered in a harsh tone. "I didn't know you actually noticed. You did leave in such a hurry, after all."

Allen gave her a sly look, even though she hadn't glanced up at all. 'At least she's getting fond of this coy game. It might not be so fun if she played dead all the time.' He thought.

He grabbed Millerna's arm, yanking her to stop in the middle of the hall, which was pretty much empty now. He turned her to face him.

"Why don't you just quit it already? Maybe I won't be so harsh on you if you just admit what you're doing." He stated, forcing her to look him in the eyes.

She quickly looked to the side. "What are you going on about? Admit to what?" She countered.

His arrogant look made her stomach drop out. Then he leaned in to whisper in her ear, still clutching her arm in his hand. "That you're not as perfect as you seem. That you aren't this person." He pulled back with a dazzling smile as two random freshmen girls started down the hall.

Millerna stared as he shot to girls his charming smile. "We're late for class." She stated, leaving him to follow her into their class.

It didn't take long for Allen to realize she ditched him and he hadn't gotten anything out of her. So he quickly followed her into the room and sat down behind her.

The class begun with some more lectures about their projects. Most people weren't paying attention, doing things last minute was like a permanant trend there. Allen let the silence in the back of the room last longer than normal. Millerna was paying attention instead, to get her mind off of everything else.

After fifteen minutes she slowly glanced back at him, which he noticed, before turning around halfway.

"So... no one knows." She stated slowly.

He nodded with a grin. "Not unless you want-"

"No." She darted her narrowed eyes in his direction. "I knew it. I knew I shouldn't have trusted you. The moment I let my guard down, you attack. You're... words can't describe it." She spat out.

He laughed suddenly. "Right. Then tell me you didn't enjoy it."

"I didn't enjoy it." She stated, glaring into his eyes fiercely.

Taken aback by her quick answer and the truthful expression on her face, he was reminded of Hitomi.

"You know," He started. "We could just tell the class now and see what they think about it too. It is always better to have a second opinion, right?" He grinned at her again. Millerna just kept glaring.

"Why do you hate me so much?"

"Hey, I never said that." Allen protested. "I hate people like you."

"Like what?" She asked back, genuinely curious.

"It's bad enough there are people like you who make the rest of us look like lazy, useless students who aren't going to make it anywhere in life if we "don't set our priorities straight"."

She interrupted, "But isn't that exactly what you are?"

He ignored her. "And then the real truth is, you're exactly the same. You're just pretending. You're fakng your entire existence for the rest of the world. Why?" He leaned down, closer. "Why can't you just shut up and go to sleep in class like the rest of us?"

"Maybe because I do want to get somewhere in life." She said, lifting her nose in the air.

Allen pulled back and looked at her carefully before replying. "Okay... Then why were you sitting at home on Sunday watching crappy TV shows? Shouldn't you be out snagging job interviews or doing community service? If you're so into preparing for your future and rising to the top." He paused to watch her think. "It's all for you right? To make sure your future's perfect. It's because you want to do it, right?" He asked again.

"Of course." She scoffed. "Who doesn't want a good future? A good life?" She asked back.

He leaned back in. "There are probably about fifteen people in this room who have no idea what's going on and they'll end up with the same future as you, only they didn't need to try so hard or pretend to be what you are. In fact, they don't even care. You're only in high school."

"What does that mean? Stop thinking about the future? It's still going to come and it's better to be prepared, have a plan. Do you want me to just ignore it and wait till the time comes?" Millerna shot back again.

He just shook his head. "Maybe you should just stop thinking about the future so much, and start enjoying the present. Otherwise you're gonna just keep thinking 'this is for the future' when it's already come and you just won't be able to stop yourself. When do you plan to stop then?"

"Stop what?"

"Stop caring about it so much."

"When it's time to stop caring about it so much." She replied.

"But you're wrong. You seem to think once you get to a certain age it'll be perfect, and you can just stop. Do you know when that really will be?" He asked, not waiting for an answer. "When you're waiting to die, that's when. That's when people stop thinking about the future. Are you willing to waste your entire life like that? Give yourself more grief than it's worth?"

Millerna stared at him.

"Is there a problem back there?" The teacher called, causing Millerna to whip around.

Before she could answer though, Allen did. "Sorry sensei, we were trying to get a head start on our project. You said something and gave us an idea for the second part. Didn't mean to block out your class." He answered easily, leaning back in his chair.

The teacher nodded, slightly stunned that Allen Schezar knew they even had a project to do. "Alright, well you could have waited, I'm giving you all class time right now to work on it."

Millerna stared straight ahead for a few moments, although the other students had already separated into their chosen groups for the project.

'I guess I was wrong to think he was a stereotypical blonde or something.' She thought. 'He didn't bring up what happened yesterday and brag about it as much as I thought he would. In fact, he went pretty far from that conversation. He's pretty good at arguing when he cares enough about the topic.' Millerna looked up at the ceiling. 'It's too bad I was lying.'

And Allen, although proving that he wasn't one hundred percent a jackass, just couldn't let another opportunity pass by again. He tapped Millerna's shoulder to get her attention once more.

"How was I, by the way?" He asked frankly.

Her blank look didn't faze him. "What?"

"Yesterday." He said evenly, his tone too serious to be real. "How was I?" He asked again.

She started to turn red. "I... How would I know?" She got out.

He just shrugged. "Fine then. We'll just have to do it again sometime so you remember, or keep doing it until you form an opinion." He smiled crudely at her as the bell rang, got up and left.

Millerna slowly got up and headed out of the room after grabbing her things. She was slightly mortified at what he'd said, especially because there truly was no escape. The only way to run would be moving and starting a new school altogether, and she wasn't about to start creating fantasies in her head with that option.

"Hey." She heard someone call out.

The blonde looked up to see a figure approach her. "Dilandau? You're in school?" She asked, surprised.

He shot an annoyed look. "Hey, I'm not always cutting. I can go to school and learn something if I really want to."

She looked away, still distracted. "Yeah, you're right." She mumbled, and unconsciously began walking again.

"What's up?" He asked, eyeing her carefully. "Something happen?"

"No, not really." She mumbled again.

After a few more minutes in silence, Dilly caught sight of a door with a sign on it just ahead. A few more steps and he suddenly shoved her, and himself, into the empty girls bathroom and closed the door behind him to lean against it. He smirked, folding his arms.

Millerna stumbled back into the wall, two feet across from Dilandau. "What are you doing?" She sputtered out.

"Something looks wrong." He said, pushing himself off the door and circling her. "What happened?" He asked, stopping in front of her.

"Why would you think something's wrong?" She tried to sound cheerful.

The silver-haired male just stared at her for a minute before speaking. "Stop doing this." He paused. "You ran into Schezar, didn't you?"

"Actually," She glanced to the side. "I had class with him."

Suddenly he was standing right in front of her. "What'd he do?"

Millerna stared at him. "Nothing! All we did was talk. It's not like he'd attack me in front of twenty-five students and a teacher."

Another pause. "Remember when you asked me that day at lunch, what's going on in my life? That I'm a person too and it wouldn't be right not to ask or something like that?" He stared at her hard, making her look up into his eyes. "You're a person too, aren't you?"

"So?" She questioned, looking confused.

"So then tell me what's wrong. Tell me or Hitomi or someone. Don't keep saying it's nothing. If it's Allen bugging you, complain about it."

Millerna closed her eyes for a second.

"Stop pretending you're fine with this and pretending your the strongest person in the world. If you can't deal with him and whatever's going on with you two then... say something."

That only seemed to make her angry. "So you're saying I'm not strong enough to handle him on my own?" She yelled.

Dilandau turned around and paced a bit away before turning back to her with a cold look. "I'm gonna be completely honest about this." Then he mumbled, "Which, yeah, is pretty new to me... But it just kind of seems like your playing the victim."

The blonde stared at him. "What?"

He shot another look, this time frustrated. "You're letting him get to you, terrorize you. Stop giving him openings to hit you."

"But I..." She stopped herself, not sure what to say.

"It's not just his fault, and you know this." He stated, almost angrily. Then he stopped and looked at her. "I'm just trying to help you out here."

"Dilandau..." She looked up from the floor. "Can we just... stay here for a while? To talk?"

**xoxo**

After almost an hour in the girls bathroom, Millerna was able to find out just how Dilandau knew about her strange relationship with Allen Schezar (from Hitomi obviously, who couldn't help but share her own opinions on the subject and that is why Dilly's behavior was nothing short of overreacting when he confronted Schezar, and Fanel). Dilandau was also able to get the entire story from Millerna about what had been going on between the two blondes.

Thus, he almost stomped out of the bathroom to find Schezar and rip his head off his neck, if it wasn't for Millerna bringing up the name Celena, which caused Dilly to come to a halt. Millerna didn't answer any questions about it, just said they'd be talking about it later when Hitomi was present. Dilandau had grudgingly agreed to this... He was also, finally, convinced by Millerna that she could handle her business, and that he didn't need to interfere unless she asked for help.

When this little meeting of theirs was over and done with, both parties walked out of the girls restroom like nothing, in front of a hallway filled with students (and maybe even some teachers). One girl whispered 'And I thought the door was jammed! No wonder I couldn't get in.'

Dilandau had to assure her the rumors that were about to spread around weren't going to be pretty, so she'd have to try and ignore them.

After that, they separated. The male youth strode across the school campus, supposedly heading for his next class (although by now he had no idea what period it was, so he wasn't quite sure where to go). Luckily though, the bell was heard, meaning all the other students would be heading for their next class and Dilandau wouldn't be looking so conspicuous as the only student wandering around.

If it wasn't for him double-taking, he would've walked right by Celena Schezar without noticing her at all. When he did so and realized she was standing there rifling through a notebook, he turned around and looked at her.

Celena could feel a shadow over her, and looked up to find someone in front of her. Not just any someone... a specific someone...

She tried to seem nonchalant. "Hi Dilly." She greeted with a glance before continuing with her task, looking for the one piece of paper she chose to write down all of today's homework assignments thus far. Of course, maybe she should've used a notebook or small pad of paper so she wouldn't keep losing it...

Dilandau was surprised at the use of her nickname for him. Was this what it was like... not being friends with someone you used to be friends with, but then ruined everything by making out with her to relieve stress? He shook his head. "What's up?" He greeted back.

"Nothing much." She responded, this time not moving her eyes from her belongings. Knowing that this "conversation" was not going anywhere and that she really didn't want to be around him, of all people, Celena started walking forward, right past him while still searching for her paper.

The boy watched as she started to move, without saying anything and left him standing there. Like. An. Idiot. He gawked at her, but she kept walking without looking up. At least this wouldn't be like the time he met Hitomi.

He caught up with her slow pace in no time, wondering why he was following her anyway. "What're you doing? Lost something?" He questioned, curious at her detached behavior.

The younger Schezar sibling just ignored him completely. Finally she looked up angrily. "Damnit!" Then she stopped and looked around on the ground, searching to see if it had been dropped.

Something clicked in his head. "Are you avoiding me?" He asked blankly.

She didn't even look at him, although Celena really wanted to shoot him an agitated glance. "What are you talking about?" She asked distractedly.

Dilandau's face looked as if something so incredibly significant just dawned on him. "You are."

This time Celena chose not to answer or comment. She suddenly turned around and spotted what she had been looking for. Dilandau watched as she picked up the paper and scanned it over before stuffing it into the books in her hands. And then, without looking back at him or even a 'bye' she was about to leave.

"Wait, you're ignoring me? Avoiding me? Why?" He questioned, making her stop and turn around.

"I'm late for class." She said. Not even a 'sorry, I gotta go'.

Dilandau was amazed, and even a little angry. But he let her go without saying anything else. 'Well, I've never been in this position before.' He thought, running a hand through his hair. 'Guilt and regret really don't fit me.'

And then, he was suddenly looking forward to discussing this situation with Millerna and Hitomi. It couldn't hurt to get a girl's perspective... unless they beat him up for his stupidity...

**xoxo**

Celena slowly opened the door, listening carefully. When she heard nothing but silence she walked in, only to gasp and trip over an end table when she spotted Allen already home, watching the TV on mute.

He glanced back to see his sister, before turning back to the show.

"What're you doing?" She asked, getting up and sitting down next to him.

Allen glanced at her, wondering why she wasn't still pissed at him. "Dad got in early and said to keep down the noise. I'm guessing he went to take a nap."

"That's weird." Celena commented. "Why's he home so early?"

He just shrugged. "Dinner business meeting later, I suppose."

They both stared at the TV for a minute, the silence becoming slightly creepy.

"So," Celena began. "How was school?"

The older blonde just shrugged again. "You?"

There was some more silence. Then she sighed. "I'm sorry about being so... angry... before."

Now Allen turned fully to acknowledge his sister.

"Maybe you're right." A glance to the side. "What am I thinking? Hanging out with Dilandau Albatou?" Then she looked back at him with a cheerful expression. "Don't worry about it anymore. I won't associate with him, or people like him anymore." Then she added, jokingly, "Except you and Van."

Allen stared at his sister incredulously. "Oh... okay." He blinked.

"Thanks for the advice, Allen." She gave him a peck on the cheek before standing up and leaving the room. Her smile fell faster than the remote Allen dropped in his shock.

**xoxo**

Elsewhere, a raven-haired boy was standing at Gaea High School's gates, waiting. He looked around angrily before checking the clock on the front of the school and found it was already twenty minutes since the school day had ended.

'She's not gonna show up!' Van thought, looking around at the few people left. 'What the fuck? It's not like I was planning on kidnapping her or something!'

Finally he stalked away, stomping angrily at the audacity she had to stand him up, when all he wanted to do was... make sure they were on the same side.

'She is a fucking bitch.' Was his last thought.

**xoxo**

Do you think some parts of the story are dragging a bit now? Sorry about that. Anyway, it's only been about two weeks since my last update. I have no idea how this happened so fast.

I think I wanna work on Mission Improbable now, but the funniness has been drained outta me for the... month or something.

Anyways, at least things are started to change... I think. Yeah, friendships growing, ties being slowly severed, and... uh, people getting hurt. God... what happened to the romance?

Hope it was enjoyable!

**6 - 3 - 06**

**2:57 pm**


	16. Chapter 16

**xoxo**

**Title-Are you stalking me?!**

**Chapter 16**

**By-Moon Prynces**

**xoxo**

"Where are we going?" A female voice asked.

"Yeah, where the hell are we going?" Another voice questioned, this time male.

Millerna shot them a look. "Why are you guys so impatient?" She turned back to look where she was going, as Hitomi and Dilandau followed behind her. "There's a new ice cream shop near my house. I think I remember where it is." She answered.

The two behind her turned to each other with innocent looks.

"She has no idea where she's going." Hitomi pretended to whisper. Dilandau nodded in agreement.

Millerna twitched, but then chose to ignore them.

"Maybe we should ditch her at the next street." Dilly suggested, also pretending to "whisper".

The blonde once again forced herself to keep walking without turning around and engaging herself in their stupidity.

"Why are we getting ice cream anyway? Isn't it a little chilly out?" Hitomi asked.

Dilandau thought for a second. "Yeah, but then because it's cold out, people put the heat on inside. So then, when we got inside we'd be hot, and tempted to buy ice cream!"

Green eyes blinked at the revelation. "That's like a scam or something!" She said, atonished.

There was a pause as the two thought this over and Millerna shook her head to herself.

"Hey." The male youth said, getting Hitomi's attention. "Maybe we should get Millerna to pay for us then. It is her idea to-"

He was cut off as the blonde let out an indignant 'Hey!' and swung around to bash them both with her school bag. But Hitomi was able to duck and jump to the side, letting Dilly take the full force of the blow. After seeing him get knocked over onto the pavement with a now red cheek, the brunette couldn't help but fall to the ground on her own, laughing like there was no tomorrow.

Millerna paused after her assault and blinked. She stared at Dilandau, who was looking annoyed, glaring at her. "Oh my god. Dilandau, I'm so sorry." She moved closer, about to put out a hand to help him up, when suddenly he jumped up with a water bottle in hand. "What-" She tried to say, until he uncapped it and threw water at her. "DILANDAU!" She screeched, turning and running down the block, with the silver-haried boy chasing after her, being careful not to use up all his ammunition.

Hitomi sat there and kept laughing, holding her stomach. She watched as Millerna ran down the block, stopped just before crossing the street and ran back towards the girl who was still sitting on the floor.

"HITOMI! DO SOMETHING!" She yelled as she came closer.

"Don't worry about it!" Hitomi called out, as the two ran past her again, down the other end of the block. "Since we'll be heading inside the ice cream shop, they'll have the heat on! That way you can dry off!" Then the girl started laughing all over again.

Meawhile, Dilandau was grinning at her little joke, which caught him off guard as Millerna attacked him, trying to wrestle the bottle out of his hands. This mostly resulted in her getting soaked some more. But finally, after stomping on his foot and biting his hand, she got the bottle and was suddenly heading in Hitomi's direction.

When Dilly realized she no longer posed a threat to him, he didn't bother to follow as the blonde stalked away from him.

"Millerna! What're you-" Hitomi could barely get anything out, she was still laughing, even after realizing she was the next target. It still didn't stop the screech of surprise as Millerna threw what was left in the bottle at her, soaking her head and the front of her shirt.

Now even Dilandau was cracking up at the display of the two girls as he walked up to them. Millerna smiled hesistantly... that is until Dilandau was within range. Then she spun around and began smacking him with the empty water bottle, while yelling.

Suddenly Hitomi's laughter ceased. "Wait... wasn't I supposed to... do something..." She murmured thoughtfully, trying to recall something. After a few seconds of screeching from Millerna and shouts of surprise and pain from Dilandau, she gave up that train of thought with a shrug.

Dilly was able to wrestle the bottle out of Millerna's hands, since she wasn't as strong as him, and threw it to the side, out of her reach.

After the three got tired of this game, and thus realized the effects of being wet in not-so-great-to-be-wet-weather, they stopped fooling around and headed to the ice cream shop, where it was indeed slightly warmer than outside.

Millerna and Hitomi immediately ditched Dilandau to squat under the hand dryer in the ladies room while their male companion sat down at any table that was closest. Soon after, they came back out, sending Dilly evil glares and occasionally glancing down at their still wet clothing.

A blonde haired boy at the counter eyed the girls curiously, which made Dilandau send him a look of his own.

"So what's on the agenda today?" Hitomi asked brightly as the two girls took seats across from Dilly.

He mumbled something, looking down and to the right. Millerna grinned.

"What?" The brunette questioned.

"He has girl problems." The blonde reiterated. Red eyes glared, trying to burn a hole in her head. Hitomi looked at him. But as he opened his mouth to speak, "Remember Celena?"

"She's Allen's little sister." Dilandau muttered miserably. Both girls looked shocked (Hitomi) and appalled (Millerna).

"Allen Schezar... has a sister?" Millerna repeated. "Celena? How could that be?" Then she slumped back into her seat. "He's such an asshole and she's... sweet, from what I can tell anyway."

Hitomi thought a bit before speaking. "He's not completely... a jerk." She said out loud, causing the other two parties to stare at her. "C'mon. If Van Fanel can..." Then it hit her. "Oh shit!" She gasped out, abruptly getting up from her seat. "I was supposed to meet him! After school today!" Then she began knocking her head with the heel of her palm. "How'd I forget?"

"Calm down! I'm sure he'll understand when you tell him." Millerna said in a soothing voice, coaxing the girl to sit back down, albeit with a worried look.

Dilandau only eyed her for a bit, then glanced away as he spoke. "Hey, I know where he lives if you wanna stop by later."

She looked up and smiled. "That's great!" Then mumbled. "Now if only I could stop feeling so guilty."

Dilly cleared his throat loudly. "Back to my problem."

"Right... what is your problem exactly?" Hitomi questioned.

There was a pause... A very long pause... Both girls waited... Dilandau stared at them, point blank...

"Well... first..."

**xoxo**

"This... is a complete... waste... of time." Van groaned, lifting his head off the back of the couch to give his friend a look.

"Relax. What's up with you now? You were fine earlier." Allen commented.

Van just folded his arms and looked away with an indifferent expression. The blonde shrugged off his friend's behavior and continued flipping channels on the TV.

Then, Celena walked in. "Hey." She greeted, apparently since her brother and her were on good terms again. "Hey Van." She said, raising an eyebrow when all she got was a head nod.

She decided to take a seat on the larger sofa with Allen, while Van still sat in a moody disposition on the smaller sofa. She glanced back and forth between the two and sighed, reveling in how boring the day was going.

Van sat there, in a pissed off mood, but clearly unsure why he was so mad. 'It's not like I was going on a fucking date with her!' He thought to himself. 'I don't even goddamn like her!' Then, 'But who the hell likes being stood up? For whatever reason by anybody. If she didn't wanna freaking come, she could've at least stopped by to say so.' He looked angrily to find Allen and Celena staring at him.

"Van?" A grunt was heard. "Why'd you kick the coffee table?" Celena waited for an answer.

The dark-haired boy just looked around, embarrassed.

Allen gave his best friend a very strange look. Van tried his best to send back a grin, which turned into a grimace.

"What's up, man? I haven't seen you like this since Folken destroyed your PS2 after getting mad at one of the easiest games known to man." They both suddenly lit up with grins at the memory. Celena eyed them both warily. "So do you mind telling me what the hell's going on?"

Van stared at the two for a minute, before shaking his head. "There's nothing up." He answered awkwardly. "Was it just me or was Dilandau acting pretty strange today?" He asked, quickly changing the subject.

Allen waved a hand flippantly. Celena visibly stiffened at the mention of his name. Her brother then noticed this, but went on with his response anyway.

"Yeah, he was acting weird. I guess it wasn't like he's completely turned against us or something though." He shrugged.

"Seriously though," Van leaned forward, his elbows resting on his knees, hands clasped together in front. "When did he get so close with Kanzaki and Millerna Aston?"

The blonde grinned once again. "Why don't you ever just call her by her first name?"

Van blinked at this, clearly surprised. "I don't know. I guess I never thought about, got so used to just saying Kanzaki all the time." Then he shrugged. "Guess I never really thought of her as a real person."

Allen would've went on with a 'And now?' but the careless expression tinged with silent anger tipped him off. Celena remained very still and very quiet, just listening.

So there was a great lull in the conversation. Allen finally got up and headed to the kitchen. Celena sat there and stared at Van, while he pretended to examine the new position of the coffee table.

"So then, do you like her or something?" She asked, straight forward.

But he wouldn't even entertain the thought of having a crush on someone. "Of course not." He responded, still uncaring.

She thought this over a bit before speaking. "But it kind of seemed like..."

Van turned to her with a fierce look on his face. "I haven't felt anything like that for someone since... maybe elementary school or something." He shot back. "Why would I need to waste my time with anyone else? Those so-called relationships are a complete waste of time, but I don't bother Allen with whatever he wants to get into."

The Schezar sibling stared at him some more, big, bold eyes staring. "Are you sure?" She asked simply. "How do you know you haven't come across that feeling already?"

He looked down and mumbled something. "I remember what it felt like." Then he looked back up and rolled his eyes. "The entire notion of me having to be in a relationship for any reason is ridiculous. I don't need anyone to "be there" for me." He said with air quotes in disgust.

She tilted her head to the side. "It sounds like you consider them... people in general, to be inferior to you... or something."

He scoffed. "Hey, if you have the stupid idea in your head that you're not a complete person without someone else then you are inferior, mentally and emotionally. Single people get by just freaking fine."

Instead of responding to his callous voice and behavior, she just looked away and wondered why he was getting so worked up over a discussion. Then she blinked in recognition.

"She hurt you."

**xoxo**

"You are a moron." Millerna looked over distastefully. "Isn't that like you're third sundae?"

Dilandau ignored her, mumbling to Hitomi he was going to make sure she paid for the food. The blonde replied with an 'I heard that!' after Hitomi started cracking up.

The brunette finally replied. "Aren't you falling right into their commercialistic grasp? The whole cold outside, warm inside, makes you buy more ice cream thing?"

Dilly blinked. "Commercialistic? Is that even a word?" She shrugged. Then he thought about it, even pausing in his task. "Yes. Yes, I am." Then he went back to eating.

Hitomi glanced at Millerna, who was across the table because after they had gotten up, ordered and sat back down the seating arrangement had changed. Now Hitomi and Dilandau sat next to each other on one side with Millerna on the other.

Hitomi mouthed the words 'We should ditch him to pay for it' and pointed slightly in his direction. By now, their clothes were... not quite dry, which was why they didn't really buy any ice cream, Hitomi decided on a milkshake and Millerna had changed her mind about getting something.

"You know, I never did get any of your advice on... what I told you about earllier." Dilandau said, sitting up after he finished eating. The girls glanced at each other.

"That's because you're an idiot." He was surprised to find it was Hitomi who said this.

He gaped at her a second. "I know that already!"

She shrugged. "Sorry, just making sure."

He growled at her and Millerna smiled... until someone kicked her under the table. "OW!"

"Sorry." Hitomi said sheepishly. "I was stretching." Was her excuse.

The blonde ignored them as she formulated her response. "I don't know if you should confront her about the avoiding thing. I'm not exactly sure I understand why she's doing it. I mean... okay, you guys permanantly altered your relationship, accidentally... but it'd kinda hard to try and avoid someone you go to school with and regularly run into. I just don't understand her excuse." Then Millerna smiled at the two across from her. "Except the thing is... I would probably be doing the same thing."

Dilandau rolled his eyes. "Right. But I think the avoiding me thing might be tied into that day Allen warned me to stay away from his little sister and that's when I found out..."

"But you didn't need to get so mad over it." Hitomi responded.

He shrugged. "What's done is done."

"Oh c'mon. And I thought you were such a pro with the ladies." Millerna said teasingly, causing Dilly to look around in an embarrassed way.

"This is just too odd." He stated, then turned to make eye contact with them both. "See... I don't have a "love-life", nor do I talk about these things at all, with anybody."

Now the green-eyed girl rolled her own eyes. "Okay, we get it. You've clarified that part enough already. The great Dilandau Albatou is going soft but he just won't admit it."

He stood up in a flourish with a half gasp. "Hey, I didn't say that!"

"That's what she meant about not admitting it." Millerna leaned across the table and pretended to whisper.

Finally, he sat back down, grumbling about not going soft and how girlfriends were way different than girl-friends.

**xoxo**

When Allen walked back into the room he could tell something was different. Although it could have been because he saw the amused look on his sister's face and the pout on Van's

As he sat down Van demanded, "Make her stop talking to me."

Then Celena turned to her brother, who was sitting next to her again. "I was just talking to Van about-"

She was cut off by Van again. "Tell her to stop talking about me too."

Allen looked back and forth between the two... before taking a big bite into the sandwich he had just made and brought with him to eat.

Celena grinned at his childish behavior. "You're so weird Van." She said standing up. "I'm gonna head to my room. Dad already left?"

Her brother just nodded his head, unable to speak while chewing. When his sister left the room, and he made sure to hear to click of her door closing, Allen turned to the only other person in the room.

"What happened?" He asked after swallowing.

Van just folded his arms again, looked away and began tapping his foot on the floor. "Nothing. She was coming up with weird theories about why I'm..."

"So angry? Moody?" Allen grinned.

"She thinks I have a crush or something on Kanzaki." Van responded in a monotone voice.

"Hey, I probably would've guessed the same thing."

"No wonder you two are related." He rolled his eyes.

Allen grinned again. "So then what happened between you and Hitomi anyway?"

Van looked up at his friend and stared blankly for a second, before sighing with a defeated expression. Then... "I wouldn't tell you a single thing if you offered to give me your entire collection of games and game systems and sat there and watched every second I enjoyed them while you couldn't." He stated, in the most serious voice he had ever used.

The blonde stared back blankly for a second... "What the hell was that?" Allen asked through his laughter.

The other just grinned.

**xoxo**

Dilandau cut her off. "Hey Millerna, wasn't there something you wanted to share with us too?" He grinned at the blonde as she cringed. Hitomi looked at her expectantly.

"Uhm..." She started out, looking around the shop. Then there was a sigh. "Well, Allen Schezar is out to get me." She stated.

Two pairs of eyes just stared at her. One uncomprehending, the other with a slight intent.

She went on. "We're working on a project together, because we agreed trying to find a decent partner in our class would be suicide. And we called a truce, no more bad feelings until the project's over and done with." Another sigh. Hitomi glanced at Dilandau and vice versa. "But then he came over to my house on Sunday, pretending he wanted to get started on the project... I don't even know how he found out where I live." She muttered.

"So? What's wrong with seeing the inside of your house?" Hitomi asked blankly.

Millerna turned to stare at the two across from her. "He tried to get me to make out with him." She said gravely.

Even Dilandau couldn't help the chuckle that came out. After receiving her look he responded. "Sorry. It's just pretty interesting. He sure has weird tactics." A thoughtful pause. "I know I kind of threatened him for trying anything with you, but since it was something that already happened I can't do a thing." He shrugged.

"Warned who?" Millerna asked, confused.

"About what?" Hitomi followed up.

The boy looked at them blankly for a moment. Then he suddenly cleared his throat and turned around the subject again. "So what exactly happened at this 'almost make-out session'?" He asked.

The blonde leaned back into her seat. "Nothing. I didn't do anything. It was just a kiss. And it only lasted a minute or so, that is, he fled the scene when we heard the back door open and my mom calling me." She answered.

"Well then, how was it?" Two parties turned to stare (and gape) at Hitomi who looked back innocently. She shrugged as well. "What? I wouldn't know what it's like. I'm a virgin in all these areas, remember?"

Then Dilandau, along with Hitomi, turned back to Millerna.

"It... uh... It was just a kiss. I don't know!" She said exasperatedly. Finally she confessed. "I don't know anything about these areas either. Sure I've shared a few kisses with a guy or two but mostly friendly pecks on the lips or something."

Dilandau's eyes were so wide it looked like they would pop out any second. "You too?" Was the only thing he could say.

"Stop doing that before I kick you." Millerna crossed her arms and huffed. Dilandau quickly shifted his feet to the side.

"But how does this mean he's out to get you?" Hitomi questioned, looking confused again.

"He basically told me he hates me in class today." She answered. "Then we had a really strange debate about school and me being perfect and how I'm such a try-hard or something." A pause. "But it was nice, kind of I guess. To have an actual conversation, since he does seem to be in control of a capable amount of brain usage."

Dilandau blinked. "So wait, he wants you?"

Both girls flushed at his delicate way of looking at the situation. Hitomi hit him (she was closer) and Millerna kicked him under the table (his feet had unconsciously moved back).

**xoxo**

"It's getting late." Van stated, causing Allen to look up from the TV they had both been watching. "I think I'll head home now."

"Really?" The blonde was surprised. "It's only like six. We could go grab something to eat before you leave."

The other shook his head. "I'm sure mom went grocery shopping today. We'll have food."

Allen grinned. "Not if Folken decided to visit."

A groan was heard. "Damn." He fell back into the sofa. "Was that today? No wonder. He always chooses to show up on grocery day to steal half our food. And today I wasn't there to hide most of it before he got there."

Celena came bounding down the stairs. "Did I hear someone mention food?"

"You Schezars are all the same. Are you sure Folken's not your long lost brother or something?" Van questioned.

The siblings watched as their dark-haired friend got up from his comfortable position on the couch and said his goodbyes before leaving the house for his own.

**xoxo**

The two girls stalled a bit, walking slower than Dilandau, who had decidedly taken it upon himself to be their personal bodyguard or something. After punishing Dilly for his insensitive prompt, the three settled for lighter conversation and then finally left the ice cream shop. By then they had attracted stares from just about everyone in there, employees and customers alike.

The blonde looked down. "Hitomi I have another confession to make." She bit her lip when the other girl looked at her. "You know, when we first met and started getting to know each other I was kinda lying. About who I am..."

Hitomi didn't say anything.

"I'm not a great person you know." She finally said, sighing. "See... the reason that Allen hates me... it's really pretty true. I've been living under this weird perception the people around me have of who I am. They think I'm perfect, that I'm a great person, so dependable, so responsible. The never do anything wrong, best student in class kind of girl."

"So then what's wrong?" Hitomi questioned.

Millerna looked at her sideways. "I'd gotten so used to what everyone thought of me, and then that started to matter more than anything." She looked up at the sky. "So I tried to maintain this perfect image of who they saw, at all costs. I didn't have a real social life, or real friends, or real anythings."

The other girl just shrugged. "What does that matter now then?"

"It matters because..." She looked around. "If Dilandau hadn't knocked some sense into me, I might've forfeited our friendship for the sake of keeping up appearances for everyone else." She watched for Hitomi's reaction.

To her surprise the brunette just smiled. "So then, you gave up your so-called image to be friends with me?" Then a slight frown. "But when was this?"

By now Dilandau had overheard parts of the conversation and slowed to their own pace. So he answered for Millerna. "It was after Van... upset you." He said, and then coughed, looking uncomfortable.

Hitomi stopped walking suddenly. "None of you had to do anything for me you know." The other two stopped walking as well, though a few steps ahead. "The truth is, I never thought either of you were bad people. If I did, I wouldn't have ever talked to you. And I was right, wasn't I? You're not as bad as you think. Not now, not ever."

Dilandau and Millerna exchanged strange, unknowing looks.

Her face was dark for a second. "I know bad people. I've seen them. I've heard about them. I've met them. You are no where near remotely bad on whatever scale you choose to be judged on." The girl shook her head and smiled slightly.

Hitomi started waking again, getting ahead of them. "You shouldn't be so hard on yourselves. We're starting over aren't we?" She glanced at them out of the corner of her eye. "I'm not that dense. I know when you guys started changing. I could see it in the way we look at each other and everything else. But I don't talk about these things much because it would just disrupt our growth."

Once again, the two lagging behind exchanged a look.

"We need to stop thinking about these things so much." Hitomi turned around whilst walking. "So which way is Van's house again?"

**xoxo**

Hitomi walked a bit slower as she came down a certain block, remembering something.

"Are you sure you don't want us to come with?" Millerna had asked, looking a bit worried.

"No, it's no problem. Besides, I feel like I should apologize without an audience. The guilt is really getting to me now." She admitted, looking down.

In the background Dilandau pretended to make kissing noises. When the blonde looked at him angrily he looked around going 'Where did that come from?' while Hitomi looked away embarrassedly.

Now as she tried to follow Dilandau's instructions she realized how bad it was to ask him for directions. She was probably across town from where Van's house was. And it was already about seven and starting to get late.

Hitomi sighed and stopped walking to look around carefully at the houses on either side of the block. Suddenly she jumped as one of the houses let out a loud shrill, which soon turned into the song of a rock band. It was being played at max volume and she watched as someone inside turned on a few lights in different rooms. Finally the porch light came on and the girl found herself walking towards that house.

'Maybe it's a neighbor and then I can ask for directions! It has to be on this block. Dilandau can't be that forgetful and give me horribly wrong directions.' She thought, approaching the front door.

She tried to ring the doorbell at first, but no one answered. Of course this had to be because of the really loud music inside. So she tried to bang on the door really loud too, to get their attention. Absolutely nothing.

Hitomi turned around, pondering in thought. She looked down the block again.

**xoxo**

Van scratched the back of his head and yawned slightly, although with the sounds coming from the stereo in his room... only he could get tired with his music blasting through the speakers.

After getting home and finding a note from his mom he was glad to have to house to himself. Folken, Merle and their mother had gone out to dinner, obviously thinking Van wouldn't be home till late. (Luckily this meant Folken didn't have time to steal any food.)

Finally, as he passed by the front door, on his way to the kitchen he heard something coming from outside so he opened the door to check. When he did, he saw the figure of a girl, her back facing him. He stared blankly for a second, trying to place this person in his memory.

Hitomi though, turned around just in time, because when light came flooding out behind her it was hard to miss.

"Hitomi?" He looked very surprised.

"Hey!" She greeted, smiling at him.

After getting over the initial shock, the raven-haired boy folded his arms over his chest and stared at her menacingly. "Yeah?" He asked coldly.

"You're wearing a shirt." She stated with a laugh. He just blinked at her. Then she looked at him seriously. "I'm so sorry about not meeting up with you after school! I completely forgot and Dilandau and Millerna and I were hanging out so I didn't remember till later. I really didn't mean to leave you there and not show. And now I feel so guilty, I'll make it up to you any way I can!" She rushed out in one breath, looking at him sincerely.

Van just stared at her for a moment, his hand now on the doorway. Since he seemed to have nothing to say to that, he just turned around and walked back into the house, leaving the door open, which Hitomi took as a sign to enter.

She watched as he walked to the kitchen and poured himself a glass of water to drink, before opening his mouth to speak.

"So you came all the way to my house to tell me that?" He asked flatly.

She blinked. "Uh... yeah. I just felt so bad about the whole thing, and Dilandau told me where you lived. I thought I should come over myself and say sorry." Was her response.

He just shrugged. "It didn't really matter you know. You didn't have to bother. Or you could have waited till school tomorrow."

"Ah, but how do I know when you'll cut class or something?" She asked with a twinkle in her eyes.

Van looked away. "Okay, so you're done apologizing or whatever. You gonna leave yet?"

"Are you okay? Are you still mad?" Hitomi asked concerned. He didn't answer for a second. "You know I really didn't mean to forget... I definitely would've come. Why wouldn't I?" Then she looked puzzled. "Except for the fact that you asked me out of nowhere and I don't know you all that well..."

He was still staring at her blankly. "Are you done?"

Hitomi looked angry for a second, then just rolled her eyes. "If Dilandau were here he'd tell you to stop being such a girl." He looked offended. "I was just pointing that out." She said indignantly. "So now what? Are you going back on your word? We're not hanging out today?"

They both stared at each other.

'What the hell is she doing?' Van thought. "Sure, whatever."

Hitomi raised an eyebrow at his behavior. "You were in such a good mood earlier today. What happened?"

"Allen thinks the same thing. Nothing happened." He rolled his eyes. Then walked by her on his way back to the living room.

She had no choice but to follow him and take a seat next to him on the sofa. But then he immediately got up and left the room. She heard the music being turned off before he came back to sit in his original seat. He turned on the TV and they sat in silence, watching a random show.

"Where's your family?" She asked.

"Not home. Everybody went out to dinner." He answered, not looking at her.

A minute later...

"You know... maybe I should go home now." She said with a nervous smile and stood up.

Van looked up at her and shrugged. "Okay, sure."

After sending him one last hopeless look, Hitomi closed the door behind her as she left.

'What's going on here? It's not like I'm afraid of him or anything.' She said to herself. 'It's like deja vu or something.' Then she sighed. 'I guess hearing about Millerna's encounter just freaks me out now. Being alone in a house with a guy that could easily overpower me and quite obviously doesn't want me there... is not comforting.'

When she reached the end of the block, Hitomi heard fast footsteps behind her. She turned, instead of impulsively running away, to see Van coming towards her with a jacket on.

He barely looked out of breath. "Hey, I just thought, since it's late, that I should walk you home." He said, rubbing the back of his head with a hand, looking much too casual.

"Oh..." She responded, before turning around and continuing her way, with Van a step behind on her right. 'He's not a bad guy though... he may be kinda a jerk, but Van's not a bad person... right?'

Van watched as she shook her head. "Sorry about before." He said, his eyes glancing away to the side. "Didn't mean to seem so rude."

Hitomi looked up at him. "Well... okay..."

'Great! Now even I've got a conscience! These stupid people are rubbing off on me! God I really hate feeling guilty.' Van thought to himself as they kept walking, his face betraying none of these emotions.

"How far do you live anyway?" He questioned, looking over at her.

"Well... almost across town." She asnwered. "Maybe you shouldn't go all the way there then. It's pretty far."

"Nah, it's okay. I'll just call my brother to pick me up when we get to your house or something. It's no problem." Then he thought about it. "So you wanna take the bus then?"

Hitomi finally turned to him with a laugh. "What made you think I was gonna walk all the way there?"

He grinned back but didn't say anything.

'This isn't too bad.' They both thought at the same time.

**xoxo**

Disclaimer- I made a reference to Playstation 2, which I do not own.

I realize that I've pretty much gone in depth in almost all of the characters during the past five or so chapters. Getting into their heads and showing their subtle changes in character and thinking. Except Hitomi, and Van somewhat. Dilandau and Celena are okay. Millerna and Allen are moving along. But Van and Hitomi... I need to get in their heads... create their personalities more. I tired to do that a bit with Hitomi in this chapter. She's much more of a sweet person in here than you'd think. Also, I'm not sure however any of you are imagining her appearance. I don't really care. But you should keep in mind that at the beginning Hitomi's hair was a bit longer, like shoulder length. But then she got that "makeover" and cut it shorter, so maybe it would look more like movie Hitomi, but it doesn't really matter.

Here's what I'm sure some of you are wondering about with the **side characters **and references to others. No, there won't be a need for any other real characters in the plot of this story. To tell the truth, it would be ridiculous to drag in more characters at this point. Even if they are related to the main characters. It's just stupid to keep adding things that make no sense or have no real relevance to the story. I know, in real life everything comes all smushed together with no real lines dividing it all up. But to make the story clearer, easier to understand and more enjoyable I won't overdose on complications and scenarios.

And lastly, I'm finally starting to change the relationship between Van and Hitomi into something more than platonic or enemy wise. They're definitely not gonna delve right into a relationship or anything and I have an idea of how things will keep going between them. For everybody the relationship with someone developes different. Person A and Person B meet and begin a relationship that is close to friendship but not quite there. But they both look at it differently, right? Person A might think they're already friends while Person B thinks they hardly ever see each other anyway so there's nothing really there. That's how it is. God...you're gonna love it.

Anyway, how do you like the interaction between everybody? The friendships are coming along right?

**6 - 12 - 06**

**sometime around 12 am**

Time to update dudes... it is...

6 - 17 - 06

11:07 am

And I've already started on chapter 17, gawd... the opening scenes sure... are... something. Ciao.


	17. Chapter 17

**xoxo**

**Title-Are you stalking me?**

**Chapter 17**

**By-Moon Prynces**

**xoxo**

A blonde swiftly walked down the hallway, only glancing around occasionally. She walked to a door and turned the knob while trying to push it open.

"What the hell?" Millerna muttered to herself. She turned around and looked down the hall, after realizing the bathroom door was locked. "I'll have to go to another building now." She said to herself.

So, quickly, intent on getting back to class without wasting time she made her way out of the building she was in and headed across the campus to another.

Unfortunately... she caught the eye of someone who was also wandering around campus.

When Millerna finally reached the nearest building and was just entering the restroom, she felt a slight pressure on her lower back. Not bothering to turn around, thinking it must be the airconditioning or something she headed to the mirror to check her appearance... before reaching down and splashing water on her face.

But as she lifted her head up and looked into the mirror...

"AH!" She jumped up and abruptly turned around, pressing her back into the counter.

"Hey." Allen waved. "What's up?" He watched as the water dripped down her cheeks and nose, and her shocked expression slowly turned into a glare.

"So now your plan of attack is to corner me in the girl's bathroom?" She asked in disgust, reaching over to grab a paper towel to dry her face.

"Now that's just crazy." He replied, waving a hand dismissively. "I just saw you and decided to say hi." He smirk said otherwise though.

After drying her face and throwing out the paper towel, Millerna stood there with her arms crossed and examined him. "So are you done now?"

"Not quite." He answered, taking steps closer to her.

**xoxo**

'What's he doing?' Millerna thought to herself, once again panicking.

'This should be good.' Were Allen's completely opposite thoughts.

As he got closer Millerna could only brace herself further onto the counter between the faucets, until she was almost sitting on it in an uncomfortable position, with her hands gripping the edges at her sides tightly. Allen paid no attention to her behavior, he was only glad she didn't run away yet.

His technique wasn't forceful, it was more subtle and definitely something that suited his demeanor in this area. He put his right hand on Millerna's shoulder and very slightly pushed her back, while wrapping his other around her lower back.

Allen started out slow, knowing her will to protest and fight him was already long gone. Instead of trying for another kiss on the lips, he let his own move slowly down her throat and neck. His left hand moved to hold the back of her neck.

Millerna went so still her muscles ached. She felt what he was doing, and the only thing she could do was close her eyes and pretend it wasn't happening. Maybe Dilandau was right? Was that all she ever did? Played the victim? Is that what she was doing now?

And instead of realizing the enormity of this situation the only thing going through her head as her body responded of it's own accord was Dilandau's harsh voice.

He heard her gasp at first, a sharp intake of breath that came out unconsciously when he came upon a certain spot on her neck. He grinned to himself and continued, but lingered on that spot a bit longer.

Millerna's hands, which had been clutching onto the counter were slowly going limp and her feet were practically tiptoeing on the floor as Allen pushed her further onto the counter with his body.

Allen was taking his time, trying to build it up gradually. But most of all, the most important rule of them all in a case like this... was to never let her see his face. Because looking into the manic eyes and lips pulled into a sadistic smirk made them see something and immediately jump away.

She threw her head back and Allen's hand on her shoulder pushed her more and she went along with it, letting him move her to lean fully against the mirror. Her hands were now completely useless, beign dragged with her at her sides.

When it seemed like she'd gotten comfortable Allen moved back slightly to stare at her. Millerna, who still had her head thrown back, was staring in a daze at the wall on her right, too busy with her thoughts to pay attention.

And then he went in for the kill, swiftly putting his lips on hers, for the second time and following up with his hands at her sides on the counter, but not touching her.

She wasn't surprised this time. A part of her expected him to try this again. But what did Dilandau say? The victim? A victim? Always the victim... Millerna didn't respond to him like the first time even if she did close her eyes, she kept thinking again.

'...a victim...' Kept playing over and over in her head, Dilandau's reprimanding voice. Suddenly she remembered Hitomi. Hitomi, who seemed to be on to something, before when she said... 'Use him for his experience.' She thought as her eyes opened slightly.

Then she thought better, wasn't opening your eyes during a kiss a bad thing to do? Since she really didn't know what to do, the only move she made was bringing her hands to Allen's shoulders.

Allen, who was enjoying this endeavor was surprised to feel Millerna react to him. It would have been easier if she did just stay limp and out of it. But then he smirked in the kiss and thought he could use this to his advantage as well.

After a few minutes of this, with Millerna having absolutely no idea what to do and just letting him kiss her, he pulled back and she opened her eyes to stare at him innocently.

"At least you didn't start crying this time." Allen muttered for her to hear as he back away, fixed his hair and turned to leave.

Millerna was back to glaring, as she quickly jumped off the counter and shoved him back into a wall. Allen was caught off guard as she did this, but had managed to turn around so it was his back that now ached and not his face.

He stared down into her eyes that looked like they could burn a hole in his head. "What? You wanted seconds?" He asked mockingly.

'I'll show him.' She thought, pushing herself onto him and quickly attaching her lips to his once again, which caught Allen by surprise again. Although Millerna was greatly inexperienced compared to him, she got some idea of what to do and slowly moved her lips against his in a much more coy manner.

That was, before she shoved him out of the bathroom door to let him stumble to the floor in the empty hall.

**xoxo**

"So should I stop by your house later then?"

Silence.

"Van?"

"Yea, sure." Was his reply after jumping out of his stupor.

Hitomi laughed at him. "What were you thinking about? A prank to pull on the principal?" She joked as they both walked across the school grounds to their next classes. 'Thank god I caught up with him today. At least he's not mad anymore.' She thought, remembering how they had talked and joked around the night before.

Van glanced at her and let an uncomfortable silence encompass them. Finally he asked, "How's Millerna?"

She looked at him blankly. "Uh... she's fine. Why? You've talked to her lately?"

He just stopped walking and looked up at the sky. "Well... I was kind of a jerk to her before... I talked to her a few times and it wasn't so great."

Her green eyes looked on curiously. "Oh..."

"Tell her I said I'm sorry about that, 'kay?" He said, looking back at the brunette.

She turned to look straight ahead and they started walking again. "Why don't you just tell her yourself?" She asked simply.

Van turned to stare at the girl beside him. 'Why'd I feel the need to apologize? Just because she's friends with Millerna? That wasn't me being sincere, couldn't have been.' He shook his head as the approached Building C. 'Wait, what about my plan? Turning her into...' Then he thought of the girls Allen hung out with and shuddered. 'Maybe that's not such a good idea anymore...'

Hitomi glanced at him. "Isn't your class in the other direction?" She questioned.

He stopped short, coming out of his thoughts. Hitomi stopped a few steps ahead and looked back at him.

"So you're leaving now?" She asked.

"Sure, I guess."

"I hope you actually make it to class this time. No more distractions, right?" She teased.

Van grinned. "Allen's not a distraction, he's a disaster. If I run into him and don't make it to class it's just unavoidable." He shrugged.

Hitomi laughed at him, "Okay, I'll see you later." She said before leaving.

Van stared at her back for a minute before turning to head to his own class.

**xoxo**

Dilandau was still unsure about what to do with Celena. It wasn't that he was purposely overthinking the situation. He just couldn't get his mind off her. It was the guilt and regret again. He'd never felt like that about anyone that he'd been in... a "relationship" with before.

He supposed part of it was because of Hitomi, even though she hadn't been there at the time, she reminded him of something... if only he could figure out exactly what it was and why he couldn't get himself to stop pondering things that involved the younger Schezar.

'Wish we could just talk about it or something. I feel like I need to apologize or something, make her understand I'm sorry about what happened.' He thought, walking across the campus grounds.

Then he stopped and blinked. "God, I sound like a guy from a chick flick." He shook his head and continued on his way.

**xoxo**

Celena stood on the roof on one of the school buildings, which wasn't high at all. She had been wandering around the halls instead of going to class and found a door open, which led up there.

She put her arms across the top of the hand rails and looked out at the empty grounds. She had about twenty more minutes before class ended. She sighed to herself, unsure of why she seemed so... tired and hopeless as of late.

She was glad though, for the conversation with Van the other day. Now she was sure that Dilandau and Hitomi weren't... together. It actually wasn't because she was bothered with him going out with anyone, but his methods. It had upset her to think he was just another playboy and she had gotten played, and that he was just going to do the same thing to another girl right after their encounter. She didn't see him as an uncaring person and couldn't believe he'd do such a thing.

Celena shook her head and turned to stare past the school gates.

Maybe it had been better, when she was stuck in a private school and locked away from the real world. Because quite obviously, she didn't know how to handle anything in the real world. She could only watch as she kept making more and more mistakes and wondering when they would finally end so she could keep up pace with everybody else out there.

**xoxo**

Hitomi slowly wandered out of the school gates after school had ended, her green eyes trailing to the groups of people around the exit/entrance. It was a little weird that she hadn't seen Dilandau or Millerna all day, but she figured they all had their own things to do. Besides, with Dilandau acting all big-brother-ish, she wasn't sure how he'd react to her hanging out with Van. It was a little strange but it's not as if she'd keep anything from either of them.

Anyway, as she continued to trudge, a hand sliding onto her shoulder made her jump out of her skin and trip over herself as she turned around to see who it was.

"Nice." He commented, as she glared up from the floor.

"Van." She muttered in greeting. "And to think, I was looking for you to head to your house today. Scratch that idea now." She said, getting up herself and refusing his offered hand.

He grinned at her all the same, though her expression was still disgruntled, Hitomi turned around and began walking again, with Van trailing behind her.

The grin slowly ebbed away and he examined her. "You look kinda angry." He stated.

Hitomi looked over her shoulder, putting on a nonchalant face. "Who ever said I was angry?"

"Your face did." He replied cheekily, with another grin. "So what's up? Not that time of the month is it?" He asked, pretending to back away in fear.

Hitomi turned around and smacked him. "Shut up will you? And stop following." She said with a straight face.

Van became serious abruptly. "What's wrong? You really do seem kinda upset."

"I am not upset." She protested, sticking her nose in the air. "Nothing. Is. Wrong." She said slowly, trying to emphasize the point.

He just shrugged his shoulders and started back his pace. "Alright then." He said as he walked on without her. Hitomi blinked before jogging to keep up with him.

"Where're you going?" She asked.

"Home." Was his answer.

She kept walking a bit more without response. Then there was a sigh. "Not like I have anything better to do." She finally answered, still trailing him.

Van's grin returned once again, as he led the way to his house.

**xoxo**

Millerna bobbed up and down as she made her way down an empty staircase, hoping to leave school without the normally large crowds, which is why she was taking an emergency exit instead of the building's main entrance doors. She regretted her decision when she heard someone whistling from behind and abruptly stopped her walking.

She turned around to glare. "Don't stalk me Allen. I'm sure there's someone out there who wants to go out with you at this very moment. Although I'd say they must have questionable taste..." She said with a glare and raising an eyebrow.

"Yes... and you taste pretty nice too." He commented back nonchalantly. This shut Millerna up. Allen stopped walking two steps higher than his female counter part. "So where are you headed now?"

Millerna glared longer before responding. "What does it matter? You won't be joining me either way."

Just as she finished speaking Allen started. "Actually, now that you mention it, I do have a question or two." He said airily, trotting down three more stairs and waving a hand at her.

She turned as he moved and crossed her arms. "I am not following you like a dog."

"So then you're insulting a dog's nature?" He turned back with a grin.

"No, I'm making a comparison."

"So how was your day?" He asked back, turning around and tapping a foot.

She paused. "It's not as if you actually care. Get to the point Allen."

"How come you're not calling me Schezar with distaste?" He eyed her suspiciously.

"Celena." She stated simply.

Allen tried to ignore it. Apparently his sister was getting popular these days. And there wasn't anything he could do about it, unless he wanted to get on her bad side again. So he changed the subject.

"So when are we heading to your house for that project of ours?" He questioned.

Millerna winced slightly. "Do you even know what our project is on? Do you know when it's due?"

Allen paused in his endeavor, whatever that may be. And once again changed tactics.

"Where do you think you'll be ten years from now?" He asked curiously.

The shorter blonde was thrown by such a random question. "I..." Then she remembered the conversation she'd had with him in class a few days ago. "I don't know exactly yet."

He eyed her form with a hand on his chin. "What? Married with kids? Or maybe still working on your career, whatever that'll be." He answered for her.

Millerna stared. "What's your point?" Her gaze shifted around.

"Just wondering I guess." He shrugged carelessly.

Her eyes narrowed and aimed at his expression. "Then what about you?"

Allen just turned and grinned with another shrug. "Who knows? Who knows if I'll even be alive tomorrow? Or next year." His eyes stared back into her. "Who cares? I'm not thinking about that. Only right now."

Her response was quick though. "But what about your regrets? What if you do something today that you'll be regretting next year? And then that regret is so strong it stays with you everyday for the rest of your life? Sometimes you have to think about the future." Millerna stated matter-of-factly.

"Why are you arguing with me anyway? I thought you had somewhere to be." He said looking around, as if to check if someone was nearby.

"I'm not arguing!" She protested. Then her train of thought went out the window again. And Hitomi's voice came back. Teach her things? Ha! All Allen had managed to teach her was to stay away from him after this project and from guys like him for the rest of her life. And all of a sudden she found herself taking the initiative. "Hey, why don't you come over tomorrow to do some more work on this dumb project?" She asked abruptly.

Allen looked up from staring around evasively while she had been pondering whatever. He grinned. "Sure. What time?"

Millerna bit her lip and was suddenly continuing her pace down the stairs. Allen looked on, confused as she stopped at the door to turn back to him.

"After school... how about around seven?" Although she didn't give him much of choice because she was already leaving the building. But she did manage to catch his last word on the matter.

"It's a date then!" He called after her.

Millerna sighed heavily as she walked briskly across the school grounds. Almost to the gate she glanced over her shoulder to see Allen outside, leaning his back against the closed door with his arms folded and grinning at her.

**xoxo**

Hitomi looked around meekly before following into the house after Van. True, she had been here before, but there was never a formal introduction. Because Van had been mad. She didn't have much of a chance to examine his house.

Now however, Van was strutting around carelessly, walking to the kitchen while leaving Hitomi to acquaint herself with the living room once more. She looked around and took two steps to the largest sofa before pausing, and then finally taking a seat.

Van came back a minute later with two cans of soda, which he put on the coffee table, obviously indicating one for Hitomi. A moment of silence passed. Then Van put on the TV and they stared as he flipped a few channels.

"So this is what you do when you hang out with friends?" Hitomi asked, puting her elbow on the armrest and face in her palm to give him a look.

He turned to stare at her. "Actually, I'm usually just hanging out with Allen, and maybe his sister. And they're not very interesting either." He ended with a grin.

"Hey! Are you calling me boring?" Hitomi asked accusingly, sitting straight up.

"Well what do you want to do?" Van asked, standing up.

Hitomi still pretended to glare at him as he walked away from the sofa. After realizing he wouldn't stop walking and wasn't going to turn around she got up to follow him.

"Where are you going?" She asked in a timid voice. And obviously he didn't hear because he didn't stop or answer. So Hitomi followed Van a few paces behind, out of the living into a hallway that lead towards the back of the house.

Van opened one of the doors and walked in casually as Hitomi stood unsurely in the doorway. Immediately he pulled his shirt over his head, and the brunette stood rigid with wide eyes, until realizing he had an undershirt and was just discarding a piece of clothing because it was hot and stuffy in the room.

Then Van jumped on the bed, lying on his back and picked a remote control off the end table to push a few buttons. Soon music was blasting through the speakers placed strategically around the room.

Hitomi stared around at the discarded clothes, cd cases, some crumpled papers, among other things. She noticed the desk that sat untouched in a corner and the windows that let light filter through, along with the open closet that had a trail of clothes leading away and a dresser with mirror that had things placed on top. And of course the stereo that sat on a bookcase shelf, along with some choice reading material (sports magazines mostly).

"Is this your room?" Hitomi asked, holding on the doorway.

Van suddenly looked up, as if he hadn't known she was following him the whole time. "Oh, yea."

She shifted her weight and folded her arms. "Thanks so much for showing me around then. Would you have just left me in the living room if I hadn't followed?"

Van just shrugged and put his head back on the bed. Closing his eyes and nodding to the beat of the music he unconsciously moved his finger on the control and the volume went up with it.

Until he felt her snatch the control out of his hand and turn down the music. When he opened his eyes and looked up, she jumped on him and pretended to choke him.

"Hey! What the-" Van shouted through his struggle, which was pretty weak because he was too confused.

Hitomi looked as if she really were concentrating on blocking his air passageway. Only her hold on him wasn't tight at all, so he was pretty much panicking for no real reason.

Finally she moved her hands next to his neck, instead of on it, to hold herself over him. "Wow. If you had any common sense at all I'd die of shock." She said with a smile.

Van glared up at her while rubbing his neck unconsciously. "Psycho." He muttered, looking away.

Hitomi rolled off him and stared up at his ceiling for a while. After a few minutes Van sat up.

"Is there something I can help you with?" He asked, raising an eybrow at her blank stare.

"Who do you live with?" She asked, glancing at him.

Van looked around the room as he placed his feet on the floor, and rubbed the back of his head whilst getting up. "My mom and sister." He replied, walking over to the stereo and changing to a different cd. "My brother doesn't live with us anymore. We shared this room for a little while, and then he took the basement."

Hitomi quietly wondered about his dad but didn't say anything. But apparently the question was still on her face as she sat up and Van turned around to look at her.

He laughed. "Oh right. My dad usually has to travel a lot on business and stuff. So we don't see him too much." Van said, taking a seat at the edge of the bed and looking back at her. "What? Did you think he was dead or something? Or that him and my mom are divorced?"

Hitomi glared as he smiled in amusement. "Sorry. How was I supposed to know when you didn't even mention him?"

"Hey, you know what they say about assuming things." Van said jokingly.

"That you're a moron no matter what?" She questioned dryly.

Van shot her a look. "Should I kick you out now or after you try to apologize?"

"Well who said I was going to apologize?" She shot back.

They stared hard at each other for a few moments.

Hitomi sighed dramatically and threw herself back down on the bed. "What do you wanna do now?" When there wasn't a reply she glanced up to see him with a wide grin. Suddenly she turned pink. "Not like that you idiot!" She yelled, grabbing a pillow and throwing it at his head.

Van easily caught this and shrugged. "I have no idea what you mean. Stop getting such perverted ideas Hitomi." He scolded, his grin smaller than before and shaking his head.

"Oh really? Me?" She asked, raising a brow. But her rant was interrupted as the phone started to ring.

They both glanced around the room, Hitomi even picked herself back up off the bed to look around.

"Wanna help me find the phone?" Van asked, dropping to the floor and pushing aside a hoodie jacket and upon finding nothing, tried looking under the bed.

The green-eyed girl looked around once more, shrugged her shoulders and closed her eyes momentarily. Then her hand moved... to open the end table drawer, scour around and then lift out the cordless phone, which was still ringing. Van had yet to realize the situation. Hitomi, by now, had opened her eyes to stare at the phone... and then eye Van who was still looking under the bed.

"Hi, Fanel residence." She answered, moving on quickly, even as she noticed Van stop moving suddenly. "I'm sorry, but there isn't anyone here to take your call but you can leave a message with me and I'll make sure they get it."

"Well... wait, who is this?" The person on the other end asked. Hitomi watched as Van's head slowly rose from the end of the bed.

"That's not important. Did you want to leave a message? The only other person here is Van and he's too preoccupied to take your call." She grinned as Van stood to his full height, glaring playfully at her.

"Why? What's he doing?" The person asked again.

"Actually, you're interrupting both of us." She could practically feel the person on the other end raise their eyebrows in question. "We were just in the middle of something." She continued, with a heavy implication.

Van stood stock still and looked horror stricken as his jaw dropped. "What the hell are you doing?" He mouthed urgently.

"..."

"Hello?" Hitomi asked politely.

"What exactly are you two doing?" The person asked once more.

"He's busy getting a manicure and pedicure. He'll be busy for a while." She answered, trying to hold back the giggles as Van threw himself, face first onto the bed, making her bounce a little.

"..." There was some more silence as the person tried to take in this bizarre situation. "Okay then... will you tell him that... Folken called."

"Hold on one moment please." Hitomi moved to phone down and covered the mouthpiece. "Who's Folken?" She asked in a whisper.

Van jumped up and grabbed the phone from her hands. "Folken she was kidding!" He shouted into the phone. "Just a joke, nothing at all." He said again, slapping his other hand onto his forehead.

Hitomi moved to listen in on the conversation just in time...

"Yeah..." Then he laughed. "For a minute there I thought-"

"Right! Ha, she's such an idiot." Van said with fake laughter, and then shot Hitomi a glare before continuing the conversation. "So what'd you call for anyway?" He asked, trying to change the subject.

"What? Can't I just check up on how my family's doing every once and a while?" The person, now identified to Hitomi as Folken, trying to not sound guilty of his brother's unspoken accusations.

"You're not visiting again, are you?" The younger brother asked. Hitomi moved back and stared as Van talked so carelessly to his brother while she was around. "We don't have enough food for that." He stated plainly.

Hitomi got up and slowly crept out of the room, obviously bored as Van joked around on the phone with his brother. She didn't want to bother his "bonding" time or whatever it was they were doing. So she decided to explore the rest of his house, seeing as he probably wouldn't give her a tour even if she suggested it.

Easily enough, she came across the bathroom, a storage closet and a smaller room that had to belong to his sister. His parents room was pretty plain and well kept, and she had to wonder how Van was related to them.

She looked up to see Van standing in the doorway, still on the phone and smiling as he looked at her. Though she had to believe it was because of something being said on the other end of the line.

"Uh... what?" He asked, abruptly losing the pleasant expression on his face. "...Sure...?" Van replied, his answer coming out like a question.

Then he suddenly was holding the phone out to her. "Me?" Hitomi mouthed, slowly walking over and reaching for the phone. "What?" She mouthed again. Van could only shrug as she uncertainly put the phone to her ear. "Hello?"

"Hi, sorry I didn't introduce myself before. I'm Folken, Van's older brother. And you already said you were Hitomi, right?" She mumbled agreement. "Hey, can I ask you... since Van wouldn't ever answer me if I asked him..."

And suddenly, realizing what was coming next Hitomi sputtered out on her own. "Uh, I think you have the wrong idea or something. It's nothing like that. I'm a friend of Van's, that's all." She ended with a nervous laugh, and glanced up to see Van give her a look before snatching the phone back.

"Stop getting ideas!" He yelled into the phone. There was a pause, and Hitomi couldn't quite hear what was said but then Van was turning red and she had no idea what was going on. Until he hung up the phone without a word.

**xoxo**

Somewhere far away the sound of uncontrollable laughter was echoing through the walls.

"Wow Folken, that wasn't too... mature." A voice said, although the person was quite obviously smiling in their vain attempt to chaste the elder Fanel sibling.

Too bad Folken was busy rolling around on the floor, laughing. Well actually he only just fell off he sofa and was now trying to breathe while holding his stomach.

"Really Folken, like he doesn't know what a condom's for..."

**xoxo**

After angrily throwing the phone onto his bed when the two walked back to Van's room he abruptly turned around, surprising Hitomi.

"So... when do I meet your family?" He asked, back to smiling as if something extremely funny had just happened...

**xoxo**

Apparently sulking around the streets of town was what Celena had turned to, to pass the time. She stopped walking and stared emptily at a shop's display window.

This was how Hitomi happened across the blonde after she had left Van's house, declaring she should get home and... do homework or something.

"Hey." The brunette said cheerily after tapping Celena on the shoulder.

"Uh..." Was the only thing she could respond with after being awakened from spacing out. Celena slowly looked over her shoulder and then turned around fully. She tried in vain to smile, but it didn't work out so well. "Hey." She finally got out.

Hitomi gazed at her for a few seconds. "Are you okay?" She asked curiously. "You look a little tired."

Celena jumped. "Oh right. I think I was... heading home for a nap." She tried for a smile again.

"Okay..." Hitomi complied uncertainly, still eyeing the other girl cautiously. She turned to continue on her way home, but then changed her mind and added something. "You know... if you need to talk, or something..."

Celena stared blankly at her for a moment. "Sure. Thanks." She said, finally pulling herself together and mustering a small, brief smile before walking away.

**xoxo**

Well... I think it's time the story starting picking up pace. It was pretty slow at the beginning right? Well it should start going faster, or at least I hope so, because it's starting to look so tedious. I've established a whole lot of things and it's time I worked them around and played with them right? (Apparently I have a problem, why am I asking you guys rhetorical questions? Obviously no one reads this part...) Then again... some things will have to go slowly... maybe... a little...

Anyway, this chapter was slow coming because times have sucked and I lost whatever it is I get that makes me want to write. I did type and write to add a few more things a few times (for both this story and DC) but my attempts kept dying and whatever.

Sorry about the long wait. Eh... yeah.

Hehe... by the way, that scene with Hitomi being introduced to Van's room and then "choking" him... I've done that already. But I actually wasn't thinking about my incident when I typed that scene... strange.

As always, if you wanna know when I might possibly be updating you should check my profile every once in a while.

**9 - 21 - 06**

**10:29 pm**

Finally it is time to update.

9 - 22 - 06

3:31 pm


	18. Chapter 18

**xoxo**

**Title-Are you stalking me?!**

**Chapter 18**

**By-Moon Prynces**

**xoxo**

"Stop moping around Dilandau." A feminine voice said, not looking up from her computer screen.

He looked up from where he sat, cross-legged on her bed. "I am not moping!" He protested loudly.

Hitomi just rolled her eyes and turned up the volume on a new song she'd just downloaded, to block out his obvious negative energy. Luckily her parents and brother weren't home yet so there wouldn't be anymore questioning on why she was spending time alone in her bedroom with a guy.

She sighed just as the phone began to ring and Dilandau lazily flipped through an old magazine. Hitomi got up and left the room to grab the phone off its cradle, which sat in the hallway on a table.

"Hello?" She asked, glancing up to make sure Dilandau wasn't trashing her room as a "joke".

"Hey, where do you live?" A voice asked cheerily, making her mind go blank.

There was a pause until... "Van?" She asked quietly.

"You didn't recognize me? I feel so betrayed. Now I'll just have to call you everyday from now on until you're able to easily notice my voice over the phone." He declared.

"Great, I've got myself a stalker now." She said sarcastically, walking back into her room. Dilandau looked up briefly before staring at the pages again.

"Count yourself lucky! Of all the people to stalk you, it's the hottest, most charming guy out there!" Van boasted over the phone with a grin, as usual. "So where do you live again?"

Hitomi took the seat in her swiveling computer chair, though she refrained from going back to the computer. It could only serve as a distraction. "Hm, I don't believe I was going to answer that question."

"But I asked it." He tried to counter.

"Wow, you definitely made your point there." She shot back. "But I thought you already knew!" She sighed dramatically, making sure he heard her. Dilandau now looked up from the magazine and raised an eyebrow at her. "It's not so much a house..."

Van waited, and at the other end of the line he only looked to one side, before slowly looking over to the other, with his little ounce of patience, and slight boredom. "Mm..." Was the only sound he made in his wait.

"... as it is a cardboard box." Hitomi replied sadly.

Van perked up at the other end and began cracking up slowly.

"And I doubt you'll be able to come over today." She went on. "I'll have to put a request in to my pimp to get the night off." By now Dilandau was on the edge of the bed, listening to whatever fantasy Hitomi was living in at the moment. "But hey, if you've got some extra cash lying around I'm sure I could give you a discount, in say..." She looked down at her empty wrist. ".. about an hour." Hitomi ended it with a wink that only Dilandau saw.

Finally, the boy got up from his place on Hitomi's bed to walk over and take the phone out of her hand, and she didn't mind at all, letting go. He put it up to his ear to hear Van laughing on the other end. Covering the end of the phone with his hand he gave her a pointed look, which she only replied with a shrug.

Then he gave her back the phone. Hitomi grinned as Van finally came down from his high.

"Sorry, but I've gotta go. Got company over." She said, still with a smile.

"Oh I see, there's someone out there who's more important than I am?" He questioned.

"No, it's just Dilandau." She responded. That is, before there was a click that officially meant she had hung up... or that something had happened.

**xoxo**

"Okay Dilandau, you've got my attention." Hitomi said, rolling her eyes again as he turned her chair so it was facing him and he held the phone up in one hand. "What have you screwed up in your life this time?"

He gaped at her, before backing up and plopping down on the bed. "I haven't done anything wrong." He crossed his arms, after throwing the phone on the bed. "Lately." He added.

Hitomi smiled. "Then what's up with your mood? You've been acting like you're dying since you got here. Geez, if you didn't wanna be around me you could just say so. I really wouldn't mind kicking you out of my house." She said, also folding her arms and sticking her nose in the air.

Their playful behavior gave way and he finally stared at her hard for a moment.

"It's about Celena." He stated.

"That poor girl." Hitomi shook her head mockingly.

Dilandau grabbed the magazine that lay on the bed and flung it in her general direction. But his aim was meant to be horribly off and it hit the wall, two feet away. She laughed a little and he grinned as well.

"It's just that... I feel so..." He gulped as Hitomi suddenly fixed him with a bright-eyed, intent look, waiting for his words. "...guilty." He finally confessed. "What am I supposed to do? Apologize? I doubt she wants to see me anymore." He asked, sitting back up and running a hand through his hair.

"Hey, hey." She said, making a stop motion with her hands. "I didn't say I had advice to give out. I've never even been in your position before! I've never even been in a relationship for that matter!" She argued back sensibly.

Dilandau raised an eyebrow. "Really? What about you and Van?" He asked with a grin.

Hitomi laughed at the suggestion. "Yeah right. Once we got past that hating each other thing and he stopped being an asshole we got to being friends. And that alone is hard enough work to keep up with."

Despite her know-it-all expression and attitude to his idea, when she looked over to see Dilandau still grinning she flushed.

"Stop that." She stated. "Otherwise I won't help you. I know something." She ended in a sing-song voice.

Dilandau didn't stop though. "Yeah right. What? That I'm so stupid for treating her like that? And apologizing probably won't get me anywhere? I already know those things." He said, looking worry free from her criticisms.

Hitomi ignored him as she put up her feet and twirled around a few times in her chair. When he finished speaking she stopped to face him again. "Nope, if I need to remind you of those things I will. But I ran into her yesterday." The brunette smiled happily as her friend went wide-eyed. She continued to twirl again.

Dilandau was speechless for a few minutes. He shook his head. "Oh. Well." He looked away. "I don't care."

She once again stopped to face his direction. "Really?" She asked, leaning forward slightly looking quite innocent.

"Of course I do!" He shouted, whipping back to face her. Hitomi slowly grinned again.

She got up from the chair and walked over to him, patting his head. "Don't worry, all will be revealed in due time." He glared at her hand. "Just leave her alone for a while." Hitomi said, and from where she stood she looked out the open window at the especially bright sun coming through.

**xoxo**

Millerna was jittery as she walked around her house, trying to make sure there wasn't anything incriminating to see. Her main concern with Allen coming over to work on the project was that he would find something to blackmail her with. So she spent the afternoon cleaning up and hiding certain things. Especially things in her room.

She had a feeling they might be spending some time in there. It didn't matter; luckily her mother wouldn't be home until late so the house would be empty for them.

But then Millerna had to wonder when exactly they would finish the project. And for once, she didn't really care. For once she wasn't so work oriented and driven to perfection.

She sat down on the floor, putting her arms and head on the coffee table to rest. And soon she had dozed off; still dressed in the old clothes she didn't mind getting dirty while she had been cleaning. This included a pair of slightly baggy shorts that were so long they almost reached her knees, and an equally baggy t-shirt with a hole on the right where you could easily poke a finger through, along with her usual fuzzy slippers, her hair tied back in a sloppy 'do.

When she woke up abruptly, it was to the sound of the doorbell ringing. And since she had just woken up, she wasn't thinking too straight... and she wasn't walking very straight either, as she moved to open the front door.

She blearily rubbed her eyes before swinging the door open to reveal Allen standing there. He blinked, seeing her state and examined her with a smile.

"Why'd you open the door so readily?" He asked.

Millerna looked at him, confused.

"What if it had been a serial killer or someone come to kidnap you? I don't think you should be opening the door until you're actually awake." He stated, walking past her. She just turned to watch as he did so, and then as he closed her front door.

"Wha-" She tried to state. Then shook her head. "I'll be..." She said, heading upstairs. "Back."

Allen looked around the house once more before taking a seat in the living room. When Millerna returned she was more awake, but had forgotten to change her clothes. She stood in the doorway awkwardly, unsure how to began. Allen must've known what was going to happen. But he wasn't smiling or grinning, for once, just sitting there with a blank look.

"So..." He began. "Where's the research for the project? I forgot to bring my copy of the outline." He said sheepishly, scratching his head. "My bad."

Millerna faltered. "Oh. Right. The project. I'll go get it." She said, before dashing back up the stairs and grabbing the sheet, along with a textbook, her notebook and a pen. When she got back downstairs, she was out of breath and noisily settled the things in her arms onto the coffee table.

"Alright," Allen said, picking up the paper and looking it over. "How about I start with this." He pointed to one of the bullets on the outline and pulled out his own notebook (which looked less used than her own) and a pen to begin writing his part with the research he had stowed away in there.

She stared as Allen sat back on the sofa and began the work. She was awe struck for a moment. But she quickly shook out of it and suddenly began to work herself. She suppressed a sigh and the disappointed feeling she had. Really, it wasn't as if she wanted to do anything with Allen Schezar. She just... wanted to use him for the experience he had, to learn things.

The blonde shook her head and sat down on the floor, opened her book on the coffee table and began scribble down her first draft of work.

To learn what exactly? It wasn't that hard to kiss someone right?

And try as she might, her thoughts kept going back to those things. Luckily though, Allen seemed intensely immersed in his portion of the project. And when he did look up to glance at her, Millerna was staring hard at the page in thought, even though it had nothing to do with what it should be.

Allen, was actually behaving himself. It might have been because Celena was moping around the house and every other place she stepped foot in or out of. But of course he was too afraid to ask his baby sister anything, in case they got into another... disagreement like before. He just didn't want to get on her bad side.

That, plus him thinking about the principal's words put him in a bad place. And then he just didn't feel like doing much but laying in his bed trying to get sleep or stare mindlessly at the TV. It was fortunate that he remembered the little play date with Millerna, otherwise she might have been pissed off with him as well.

Suddenly he realized how childish he was, playing games with her and any other girl he crossed paths with. And he was sick of himself and his behavior and these people he knew who didn't know him at all. Basically, trying to take advantage of her didn't seem too appealing right now. The only thing he had come over for was the project.

'I suppose it's tough for someone to think Allen Schezar has actual problems to deal with.' He thought moodily, pausing in his work. Millerna glanced up, her chin resting on a fisted hand.

Half an hour later they were both finished with that small part of the project. Millerna lazily dropped her pen down onto the open notebook.

"Are you hungry or anything?" She asked, looking over to Allen. He only shrugged his shoulders and gazed around disinterestedly.

"Maybe I should leave." He stated, abruptly turning to look at her. "Need more research and all that." He muttered.

Millerna was ready to hide her disappointment. "Sure. I should probably make copies of our work for both of us to have on hand." She got up and Allen accordingly turned over his notebook.

She was up the stairs in a flash, heading to a room that contained the copier. After pushing a few buttons and placing the first notebook on the machine, the blonde sighed and wandered out of the room to the one closest, which happened to be her mother's room.

She looked around, taking slow steps and listening to the churning noises the copier was making in the next room.

Downstairs Allen finally thought, 'Why not?' before getting up.

He cautiously walked up the stairs and listened to the sound of movement, easily locating Millerna. He stood in the doorway and watched her hands sweep over things she was obviously familiar with.

"Hey." He greeted her softly.

Millerna looked up to see him there. "Why're you up here?" She questioned. "Couldn't wait to leave?"

Allen studied her impassive face, trying to decide if she was angry or not. But he hadn't done anything for her to be mad yet. "Who's room is this? Doesn't look girly enough to belong to you."

He said, looking around. "What about your sisters?"

She made a face. "It's my mom's." Then looked back down to the glass bottle of perfume her fingers rested on, picking it up. "My own room's down the hall. My sisters used to share a room. They were closer in age than I was so I never really paid attention to what was going on in their lives. I was always behind and too young to understand it." She explained, although the reason why she couldn't quite figure out.

He nodded slightly. The copier stopped churning. "So you're the youngest then?"

"Yeah." Millerna looked up, trying to let her voice sound light-hearted. "Anyway, they don't live here anymore. So their room is pretty much untouched."

Allen walked in slowly, pretending to look around the room. "How old are they?"

Millerna turned around and leaned against the dresser and looked up. "Well Marlene's twenty-five and Eries is twenty-two."

He walked past her and looked down from the window. "What about..." Then turned around. "Your dad?" And he couldn't help the curiosity that slipped into the voice.

She turned away, and feigned playing with the bottle. "He's not with us anymore." She stopped, then picked up again before Allen could say something. "He left us a while ago. But we see him once in a while."

The implication was clear enough for Allen to understand. Millerna closed her eyes, trying to block out that train of thought. It had been a few weeks since she last thought about him, and it hadn't gotten her anywhere to wonder around her absent father.

She turned around as Allen took a seat on the edge of the bed, looking at her. Millerna stared at him, her hand still sliding over the bottle behind her. Slowly sliding over the curves and bumps, until it slid onto wood and then off of any surface as she walked away from the dresser.

She stood in front of Allen, slowly placing her hand on his face and sliding it down his cheek. She felt the contours of his face, his cheekbone, chin and hair that seemed so perfectly in place. Just like her life had been not too long ago.

And soon she was sliding her body into place as well, suddenly finding herself straddling him, on his lap, now moving her hand down his face again and then his neck and then onto his shoulder. Millerna watched her hands move over each inch of skin and cloth, not noticing as his eyes blinked closed.

Allen sat still and let her explore, her touch soothing him over, like the feeling you get just before falling into sleep. A nice calmness that settles over you and renders you immobile and yet slightly restless at the same time. And then he didn't realize when his own hands were placed on her elbows, as if holding her from falling back.

Neither of them were thinking clearly, their heads weird from the afternoon, turning to evening, air and the way they had been edging around each other for almost an hour.

Millerna stared at the place her hand rested on his shoulder with hooded eyes, her other hand finally moving to the other, and she slowly lowered her head to lay there as well. Allen lowered one hand to rest on her waist. Millerna turned her head to the left, her nose tickling his neck.

They both waited, Allen still closing his eyes and barely fighting off sleep. Millerna lazily stared at his neck and the lines along it, before moving in and giving him a soft kiss.

Then Millerna's brain gradually began to work again. Her thoughts parallel, but not in tune with her actions. She wondered if this was how he was around other girls. She wondered what this would lead to. She wondered if this was what he hoped to accomplish all along. Or was this what she had been wanting?

Either way her kisses on his skin picked up heat and emotion. She found herself working her way up to his jaw and then mouth. Allen was unresponsive at first, letting her do whatever she pleased, and enjoying whatever it was.

A few seconds after their lips touched Allen began to pick up his part and started to kiss back, slowly taking over. Which only resulted in Millerna trying to take back control. So she pushed him down onto the bed, her hands still on his shoulders, and put in more effort, seeing as she lacked in experience. Although this didn't seem like the case to Allen.

Her eyes opened as she felt Allen's finger poke through the hole in her shirt, grazing against skin. He only stared up at her face blankly before it descended again and they started over. Millerna tried to retaliate by moving her finger from his shoulder to her neck, her nail scratching along his skin making it feel even more sensitive.

Allen smiled slightly in the kiss when he noticed her flinch when his hand pushed up the bottom of her shirt and moved onto her skin. But he didn't move any further than resting his hands on her lower back.

But suddenly they were brought back when a loud creak was heard. Millerna shot up and away from Allen but still on his lap, looking towards the door, even though it looked no more or less open than it had when they came in.

Allen slowly came to sit up again as well, also glancing at the door, his hands still on her back, now under the shirt. Unconsciously he rubbed his thumb against her skin, causing Millerna to jump again and turn to him. She blinked with wide eyes, expressionless and mute.

She placed her hands on his shoulder again and backed herself off of him, off the bed, one hand moving to his thigh to aid her. And without looking back she went into the other room to copy the next notebook pages. She returned a few minutes later to hand him the papers along with his own notebook.

"I guess I'll see you at school tomorrow." She stated hesitantly, leading the way back downstairs.

Allen walked into the living room to grab his pen. "Yeah, sure." He said carelessly.

Millerna watched him silently, opening the front door for him and leaning on it. "Jerk." She muttered without any hint of anger, or emotion at all. The blank way she looked at him proved it was just for show.

So he kept up his side. "Bitch." He muttered without heart, not looking back as he walked past her.

She watched him walk down the pathway from her house. She waited until she saw him wave a hand carelessly over his head to her, not bothering to look back.

**xoxo**

"Celena!" She called out, running up to the mentioned girl. "It's great to see you again!" Hitomi said, giving a big smile.

The blonde looked at her carefully. "Hi, it's nice to see you too Hitomi." And managed a weak smile.

"What're you doing right now?" She asked, green eyes sparkling.

"Well," She began, half turning. "I have lunch right now." She motioned to the cafeteria entrance.

"So do I." Hitomi glanced at the door. "Actually... let's go out and get something to eat." She said, looking up and thinking about Dilandau.

Celena looked surprised. "We can't leave the school grounds though."

Hitomi winked. "It's okay if they don't know." She smiled again. "Come on, there are great places to eat around here. Let's go try something." And then grabbed the other girl's arm to lead her away.

Since they were already out of the building, Hitomi led them out of the school gates and were luckily unspotted by anyone. Once they were out Hitomi loosened her hold and locked arms with the blonde, as if they were already great friends.

"So how is everything?" Hitomi asked, initiating conversation.

The blonde only stared down at their linked arms. "Um... it's fine. How're you?" She finally looked up to the other's smiling face.

"Everything's okay." Hitomi responded, turning back to the path they were taking. "But I haven't seen you around, you look kinda down. Are you okay?" She peered at the other girl out of the corner of her eye.

Hitomi stared innocently, even though she had a good idea of what was wrong. Maybe it was kind of wrong to not tell Celena she knew what was going on and that Dilandau was feeling strange as of late as well. But then she thought that maybe they needed more time apart to get over each other before heading down whatever path they were going.

She hardly gave the other girl a chance to answer before she started speaking again. "Hey, whatever it is I'm sure it'll turn out fine in the end. Right now, how about I treat you to lunch. Absolutely anything you want." Hitomi smiled at the other girl.

Celena looked on ahead, and then turned her face away and closed her eyes as a particularly strong gust of wind came in their direction. "It's kind of cold. Where are we going anyway?" She asked, trying to get away from the previous topic.

Hitomi let go of the blonde's arm and looked around. "Oh, it's right over there." She pointed and looked both ways before jogging across the usually busy road, making Celena follow and do the same.

After being given seats both looked around. Celena picked up a menu and pretended to look it over, not really caring.

"Well, it's much warmer in here." Hitomi commented, although it was mostly to herself since Celena didn't seem to acknowledge her. She looked up and put her chin her palm, staring at the girl across from her.

Celena did seem kind of... detached, maybe even depressed. She wondered if it was really serious or just a mood she was in. But somehow her blank face alone radiated hopelessness.

There was just no way Dilandau had done this to her. Hitomi looked away briefly, so as not to be caught staring intently. She wondered for a moment and realized, most likely it was Celena putting herself down. It wasn't as if she hadn't ever felt that way before herself.

In fact, two years ago she probably looked just like the blonde right now. It was only when Hitomi entered high school did she start to grow some backbone and admitted to herself she didn't like the way people treated her.

But she remembered first that the person who had to stop treating her so badly was herself. She had let people get to her too much.

Celena looked up suddenly. "I wonder if they're still serving any breakfast items. I would like some pancakes right about now."

Hitomi brightened immediately. "Sure, we'll just ask them." She looked around and caught the eye of a guy working at the counter, then waved him over.

As soon as he reached their table a pleasant smile was on his face. "How can I help you ladies?" He suddenly had a pad and pen in hand, ready for their order.

"We were just wondering if you're still serving breakfast. My friend has a craving for some pancakes." Hitomi said, smiling back at him happily.

He winked. "Anything for you two, it's no problem." Then scribbled something down. "And what about you?"

"Actually, I'm not really hungry." Hitomi looked back down at the menu. "Thanks." She said, prompting the guy to leave.

When he was far away enough to her liking the brunette turned to her friend and sighed, resting her cheek in her palm. "I'm never gonna get used to that."

"What?" Celena asked, looking curious after witnessing the exchange.

"Guys..." She tried to explain weakly, before giving up and looking down. "Being hit on I guess... although now I sound pretty vain. I don't mean guys are always hitting on me now!" She protested sheepishly, waving her hands in front of her.

Celena could only 'hm' to herself, having not enough experience in this area to discuss it. That and wasn't she trying to avoid this topic?

**xoxo**

They both looked around the cafeteria after sitting down and before saying anything to each other.

"I guess Hitomi's not here today or something." Millerna stated, turning her head back to the boy across from her.

He nodded, still glancing around lazily.

She tried initiating conversation again. "So how is... everything?" She started off, looking slightly disturbed. Then changing her mind, she let the loose the subject occupying her mind. "Dilandau, would you say you're experienced?"

Dilandau only turned to stare at her, not sure what to say. "What?" He asked, afraid to know just where this was going. "Experienced in..." His question faded off.

Millerna modestly looked down at her hands on the table. "Well... with relationships, girls, kissing and stuff." She played with her fingers a bit, not wanting to look up and see his expression.

He could only raise an eyebrow at the strangeness of this conversation starter. "I guess so." He answered unsurely.

"So then, say you were to... kiss someone without even meaning to..." The blonde started off, still looking down.

Dilandau's face contorted in shock at the memory, his eyes moving intensely making him look down at the table.

"And then you weren't sure how to act around them after the incident?" She continued to asked, looking up just as he did and their eyes met. Suddenly she gasped and shoved her hands in front of her mouth. Then moved them away. "I'm so sorry! I didn't... Oh my god!" She looked down embarrassedly while tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear.

He just shook his head. "Who are you talking about anyway?" He asked, trying to move the subject away from himself. He blinked, once, twice. "Wait..."

Millerna face-faulted. "I didn't mean for anything to happen!" She tried to protest.

The wheels were still turning in his head but he was unwilling to accept the simple truth in front of him.

"Well... maybe I did..." She admitted, not paying attention to his reaction or giving him a chance to say something.

"No..." Dilandau was still staring off in space with a very disturbed look in place.

"It was Hitomi's idea." She said pointedly, trying to give blame to someone else.

He held up a hand to halt her. "Okay, before we move on, I do not want to hear anything about how it was or any mention of who it was with. Otherwise I'm gonna throw myself out the window."

Millerna blinked at him. "We're on the first floor, what could would that do?"

"Give me a concussion and hopefully amnesia." He grumbled, crossing his arms. She waited a moment. He finally sighed. "Okay go on."

"Well..." She fidgeted slightly. Then looked up at him again. "It was Hitomi's idea though, but mostly a joke. She said I should just use him for the experience."

He raised an eyebrow at that. "Actually... that sounds like a good idea." He put a finger to his chin and looked upwards. "Where does she come up with these things anyway?"

Millerna sighed to herself. "This is just sad, the one of us three that has had the least human contact in high school the past few years knows more than we do." She looked up and fixed Dilandau with a gaze. "Hey, I was wondering."

The said boy glanced back at her. "..." He really didn't like that look on her face.

"What's it like? I mean... to kiss someone." Then she thought before adding, "For you anyway."

He could only stare blankly at her for a few moments. "What do you mean?" He asked suspiciously.

Her face burned suddenly. "Just answer the question!"

Dilandau glanced away to give her time to recover. "Uh... I'm not sure exactly. Do you mean emotionally how it feels? I don't know really. I don't tend to think I have any emotions." He said awkwardly, running a hand through his hair. "But in a way I suppose it does feel good, I think it's more physical for me. It has to feel good, why else would anyone do it?"

Millerna stared as he answered. "I think... maybe you're right. I'm not sure... I'm not sure I felt any kind of emotion while we were..." She broke out with an embarrassed face.

Dilly had the decency to grin at her. "How long exactly did you guys go at it?" He questioned, leaning forward conspiratorially.

"Uh..." Instinctively she leaned away with a taken aback expression. "I don't know. Long enough...?" She tried.

He made a sly face at this. "Wow, considering all the energy that was between you guys it must've been a pretty good while then huh?" He insisted.

The blonde could only stare at him in horror, her pale skin turning red. Then abruptly she glanced away with a sour expression. "Where is Hitomi?" She whined to herself as Dilandau grinned and snickered.

**xoxo**

Back at Millerna's house another blonde was sitting on her own bed, leaning against the wall and reading through a pile of papers in her hand. The said female blinked her eyes a few times before removing her reading glasses and looking up at the ceiling while simultaneously stretching her neck.

She glanced at the clock at her bedside before sighing. "When does that girl get out?"

It wasn't long however that she heard a commotion coming from downstairs and quietly slipped down the hall and stairs to see her younger sister cursing herself for almost tripping over air. She leaned on the wall, standing on the second lowest step and folded her arms, waiting.

Millerna was just dropping her books on the nearby table and pulling off her shoes when she glanced up and froze at seeing Eries standing there, giving her a pointed look. Her breathing stopped as she gazed at her older sister, still bent over, one hand clutching her shoe.

Slowly she straightened up, her shoe in hand now up to her chest and barely letting a breath escape from her body.

Finally her gaping mouth was able to produce words. "Wha- what are you doing here?"

"Have you checked the calendar lately?" Her sister asked with a small smile on her lips, looking as refined and elegant as ever.

She paused, her mind working overtime. Then in a whisper she replied, "Her birthday..."

Eries nodded, punctuating her arrival with the advancing steps she took towards her sister, enveloping her in a warm hug, although Millerna was anything but welcoming. She pulled back and looked Millerna in the face, hands resting on her sibling's shoulders. "I was actually here since yesterday but nobody noticed anything." She said with a smiled.

Millerna, who was already rigid, stopping breathing again.

"I got in around the time you were at school and mom was still at work. And I took a nap until I heard something interesting happening in the other room." A glint in her sister's eyes told Millerna what she had been dreading. "So I went to see what it was... and well..." She broke off, moving on with her story and sparing her sister the details. "After that I went back in my room and I heard you go right to sleep after your guest left and mom must've come in pretty late because I didn't hear anything before dropping off again. And then you two left so early this morning, I wasn't even up till ten." She said finishing up.

Millerna started taking slow, small breaths.

"I figured I'd surprise you both today then." She finally let go of the younger sibling and shrugged her shoulders.

"Why are you home so early? There are still a few more days till..." Millerna tried asking, her voice dropping lower with each word.

"I decided to check up on you two and I've missed you all so much! All we have to do now is wait for Marlene to arrive and it'll be just like it was before!" She said excitedly

"Of course it will." Millerna muttered, her stomach dropping to the floor.

"And we can all have a talk about that guy who was over yesterday." She smiled sweetly.

At that moment Millerna wanted to just pass out.

**xoxo**

I know that the scene with Hitomi and Celena seems kind of cut off, like there really should be more to it. I'm sorry for that. But towards the end of this chapter I wasn't so into writing. I got lost and confused, and you can see that when you look at the beginning of this chapter and then looking at the scenes with Dilly, Millerna, Hitomi and Celena.

The last scene is the opening to something, since I haven't brought out the full extent of Millerna's family issues just yet. Needed to get started on that soon because the story seems to be kind of dragging a bit.

Anyway, I'm kind of tired. Other than that I've made the slow transition to writing fictional work on fictionpress, so maybe you'd like to check it out. I'm under the same pen name and... the writing seems to be a bit morbid.

And I'm actually pretty disappointed that so many of you seem to hate Allen in here or in general. I can't believe how narrow-minded you seem to be. I just have to say that it's not all black and white like in the movies or tv shows that we watch. Being a "bad guy" when there really is no such thing. But your opinion is yours alone so I'm not going to bother with it too much.

Not sure when the next update will be, hopefully for all our sakes it will be soon.

Ciao.

**11- 8- 06**

**2:50 pm**


	19. Chapter 19

1-20-07

11:04pm

**xoxo**

**Title-Are you stalking me?!**

**Chapter 19**

**By-Moon Prynces**

**xoxo**

The blonde slowly wandered around the hallways, looking a bit dazed and careless. She spun around, letting her arms swing about in helicopter fashion. Luckily no one seemed to be peering out of classroom doors or walking down this particular hallway.

Celena closed her eyes for a second, giving one last big spin in the middle of the empty hallway, smiling slightly. The squeak of her white sneakers made her grin wider. Stopping with a flourish she opened her eyes, arms spread out like a performer on stage.

Blue eyes stared down the path in front of her, still smiling.

"Shouldn't you be in class?" A voice broke through her trance.

She blinked suddenly, arms losing their strength and falling to her sides. Celena ignored the person, already walking away.

The padding of footsteps, heavier than her own, followed her in a jog before coming to her side and resuming a normal pace like hers.

"Hm..." She mumbled to herself.

"Still not talking to me, right?" Dilandau said, turning to look, hands in his pockets.

"Yeah, guess so." Celena replied, staring straight ahead to her unknown destination.

The uncomfortable silence only seemed to bother Dilandau as he glanced around agitatedly. Celena however looked pretty calm and unbothered by the situation. Without thinking she smiled again, catching his eye.

"Been so down lately it feels pretty good." Was her random statement.

Dilly blinked, not understanding who exactly she was talking about.

"I just have a question. And maybe you could just keep it between us because I was just a little curious." She started again, this time sparing him a glance. "Your relationship with Hitomi and Millerna... Are you friends with them?"

Although it should've struck him as odd, he didn't really go through all the feelings in his index, only identifying with the first one that came, that being confusion. And this was the blame for his poor response. "Uh... huh."

"Yeah... they're nice, aren't they?" Celena said again. "I'll see you around then." She said cheerfully, picking up the pace and speeding away from Dilandau's sight.

Dilandau slowed down to a complete stop, uncomprehending of what had just happened. Meanwhile Celena tried to space off and ignore the stupidity of her own random behavior.

It really was just too much work to be angry at someone, or hate them, or try to avoid them. And just too easy to bump into that person every other hour while trying to stay away.

She hadn't meant to cut class, but it was such a nice day she couldn't stand sitting through another boring lesson. And there was just something that made her jumpy and restless, so eager to get up, move around and not be tied down. Dare I say, free?

Which was how Dilandau had caught her roaming the hallways like she was some kind of mental case to be approached warily. And upon hearing his voice, for the most part careless, yet laced with caution, she wished things were back to the way they had been before. Even though that was stupid to think about at this point. But moping about didn't have any appeal either, and that's what she'd been doing for... what, a week?

So she opened her mouth, and somehow, pleasant things came out. Not that she planned it, or even tried. It just seemed quite natural. It just seemed... to suit her.

Celena just wasn't an unpleasant person, even if she wanted to be (which is what she'd discovered of herself in the past week). And even though the banter between her and Dilandau seemed to have diminished, by her own fault she realized, at least she could be... amiable towards him, right?

He may have kind of ruined her life, taken her first kiss, thrown her into a slightly depressive state and made her doubt her securities...

Uh... maybe not so pleasant anymore.

Dilandau on the other hand was very confused. But at least he wasn't feeling so guilty anymore. He stared as Celena turned a corner and was out of sight. He shook his head and turned around to walk in the other direction.

"Shouldn't you be in class?" A voice asked, piercing through his fluffed up thoughts.

He whipped around to look up at the teacher, standing in a classroom doorway and tapping a foot.

"Bathroom pass." Dilandau replied with a grin, pulled a slip of paper out of his back pocket.

**xoxo**

Millerna was not having a good day. In fact she would most likely not be having a good week. And it all started yesterday; no scratch that, the day before yesterday.

When her sister came home and witnessed her making out with Allen, which she didn't know about until yesterday when said sister confronted her.

It was her own fault though, right? She should've been keeping up with the date, it would've been an easy thing to spot, it was that time of the year after all. And soon Marlene would be coming over as well.

The only way Millerna was able to escape any kind of questioning from Eries about Allen was she immediately took a long, hot shower and went right to bed, even making sure to lock her bedroom door. And then she woke up at the crack of dawn to avoid seeing Eries or her mother.

This couldn't go on forever. She'd have to see them eventually; they did live in the same house. And also for the reason her siblings were visiting; her mother's birthday. It was less than a week away now. And every year since she was eleven they celebrated it together, minus her father of course. Even after Marlene got married and left, had a child, or after Eries left for schooling a hundred miles away, they would come back for their mother's birthday.

And maybe there had been a time when Millerna was excited about this, excited for her sisters when they grew up and left, excited when they came back.

But technically, that was before her parent's relationship started to get shaky. Although Marlene and Eries still lived at home when this began, they were hardly ever around, and Millerna was only eleven and obviously had nowhere to be but home, to witness how her family was torn apart.

And now, seeing her sisters and what they'd become, compared to herself made her feel so foolish and inadequate. Especially now that Eries was going to make her the center of attention with her news on Millerna's "relationship".

The blonde held in a groan and turned to stare out the window with her head in hand. Her classes seemed to be going by in a blur, as if the entire universe just couldn't wait for her to get home. Not to mention she hadn't seen Hitomi or Dilandau yet. Which was actually a good thing, because she wasn't sure how to behave. But then there was her class with Allen, also fast approaching. She could only pray that he didn't show up like the day before, and out of desperation she was even entertaining the idea of not going herself.

Everything was turning into one big, awkward mess. She was horrified just trying to imagine how her sisters and mother would talk about her "relationship" with Allen. Although she doubted she'd actually mention his name in their presence, before one of them pulled out the phone book to look for his number and address.

The blonde let out a puff of breath, watching her hair lift slightly before landing back in front of her face.

She barely had time to regret her position with Allen now that she had family troubles to worry over. She was fortunate enough to have not seen him yesterday, but their class was fast approaching.

What was she gonna do? Pour out her soul to Hitomi and Dilandau and enlist their aid? It was already embarrassing enough, no need to force herself into an early grave, via heart attack.

Millerna took a deep breath and raised her hand, stiff as a rod with her impeccable posture. The teacher called on her and she began answering the next question with practiced ease.

'Just pretend everything's normal. Maybe it won't be so bad.' She thought to herself.

**xoxo**

"Hey, remember that phone call with your brother? Has he still been saying weird things about us?" Hitomi asked, letting her legs swing back and forth as she peered down. She was currently sitting on the wall that encased the school grounds, which was about eight feet high.

Van looked up from his place on the ground. "Why? Hoping to get on my family's good side?" He questioned, grin on face as usual.

She just made a face. "I'm just trying to protect my honor from your brother's absurd ideas about us." She said, putting her nose in the air. "And nice try the other day. You almost had me spooked about coming over to my house for a visit."

"Yeah, I am still waiting for an invitation." He responded, cupping an ear in wait.

"For such a privilege you'll have to earn it." Hitomi said again. "I wouldn't want you stalking me at all hours."

"Oh come on." Van rolled his eyes mockingly. "I can only stalk you when I have spare time. And that'd probably be at night so I can watch you sleep."

Hitomi laughed at him. "That makes me feel much better. I'm just glad you don't know where I live then."

"I have my ways." Van grinned up at her again.

There was a moment's pause, where Hitomi took the time to look around in a paranoid fashion. Van watched as she did so.

"What're you looking for? It's not your first time cutting class, right?" He questioned with a doubtful look.

"No..." She rolled her eyes away. "But I've never spent the time right on school grounds like this. I'd just leave and head to a food place or something."

"Chicken." He replied cheerfully.

"Idiot." She said back, hands gripping the edge of the wall on her sides.

"You know I haven't been seeing Dilandau as much." Van commented to himself, looking up at the tree above him. "You guys have completely brainwashed him, huh?"

Hitomi looked indignant. "No way! He came to the dark side all on his own."

Van looked around them for a second. "Hey, I've got a question." He said suddenly, looking up. He got off the ground and brushed off his pants. "Why'd you decide to change the way you look?"

She blinked at him, and on the inside she cringed. "What?"

He was still looking at her. "You know, you dress differently now and all that. What happened to before?"

Her mind reeled at the simple curiosity in his voice. "Uh..."

"And you even act differently too. Well... I think so. Kinda." He scratched his head.

"Ah..." Hitomi opened her mouth, unsure how to reply. Until it hit her. "Oh yeah, because of Millerna. That's all." She shrugged, trying to brush off the subject. "She took me shopping and gave me a 'makeover' if that's what you wanna call it. But really, it's just different clothes, a haircut and the disappearance of my glasses."

He nodded. "Okay, but why'd you go along with it?"

"She was just trying to cheer me up or something." She responded with an irritated look. "And maybe my change in attitude because she gave me a boost there too. She said I shouldn't take any crap from you anymore." Hitomi said, shooting him a disdainful look. "Does it matter how I look?"

"It was just a question." Van shrugged.

"Well then why don't you answer something for me?" She shot back, moving to slide off the wall.

He instinctively moved over to help her off, seeing as it was pretty high up, taking a hold of a hand and her waist. "What is it?"

After landing on her feet, thanks to Van's gentlemanly gesture she resumed looking at him critically. "Why'd you start being nicer... or at least less spiteful towards me when I changed the way I looked?"

Van was pretty sure this was going to end up in bad territory but he had no way to fight it. "Well first I didn't even know it was you. And I don't know. You were acting different too. I didn't start it."

Hitomi glared at him full force now. "So." She started off, putting her hands on her hips. "It was only because I looked more appealing that you _decided_ to treat me differently? And I didn't start anything! You were hitting on me or something." She accused.

"What?" Was his confused and slightly agitated response. "Hitting on you?"

"That's not the point of my question!" She shouted. "You would've treated me like crap forever if I hadn't gotten this 'makeover'?"

"I don't know! And I wasn't completely mean to you on purpose. You got on my nerves."

"I never did anything to get on your nerves, or provoke you." She argued back.

Now Van was glaring, both unaware of being in each other's faces with less than a foot of distance between them. "What does any of this matter? We're friends now aren't we?"

"Not so sure about that anymore." Was her snippy comeback.

Van let out a frustrated groan. "Who knows if I would've made friends with you if you still dressed that way? Maybe it had nothing to do with any of that. Maybe," He paused as he shoved her into the wall behind her and held her there by force. "We just have some weird chemistry." His voice came out softer, lower than he would've liked.

Hitomi looked up at him blankly. Van glared back at her, his hands flat on the wall near her shoulders.

"I wasn't hitting on you. You were flirting with me." He said again.

"And you probably liked it." Hitomi ended with a smirk, his face shown with the same expression.

After another minute their faces dropped as the bell rang.

"Shit!" Hitomi said, shoving away from Van's loosened grasp. She grabbed her things from the floor, barely glancing back at him. "Don't you have class Van?"

He stared at her strangely. "Sure. I'll see you later..." He ended lamely. She just nodded and sprinted off. The raven-haired boy leaned his back against the wall. "What just happened?" He asked himself.

**xoxo**

What was he doing? Really? Could this be considered stalking?

Actually the answer to that is no. Because Allen had actually been hanging around outside on the school grounds during one of the lunch periods, certainly not his own. And basically just finding a way to waste some time.

Which is when Millerna happened to wander into his sight about twenty feet away, where she was... just lurking around worse than him.

He didn't really have the energy to get up and go bother her though. She might be less inviting than the other day.

And all his thoughts could only come down to the real big issue. What was he planning to do with her? Getting an easy grade in one class didn't seem so easy with the slight attachment they now shared. Or was it attraction?

But the point was that he had to be prepared to flee once their time was up. He was pretty sure she'd want to murder him after it was all over, but sometimes that happened. Not the murdering part, but the girl hating him. Maybe he'd be lucky this time and she'd just walk away pretending she still had some dignity left and claim to have learned from her mistake.

Then again she just might be able to kill him after all. With their normal resentful relationship on hold, she'd probably be even worse once he betrayed her.

Allen shook his head and turned away from her, staring in the opposite direction.

It was pretty ridiculous though, and he never claimed he was able to charm all women. So getting someone that hated him to start making out with him in her mother's bedroom was a surprise. And an accomplishment.

He did have to wonder how she felt about him now. Still hated him as much as before? Or was she falling for him like other random girls he'd dated?

He was kinda hoping she did still hate him. Because at least she wouldn't cry when he ditched her.

The blonde couldn't help however, as his eyes shifted to the side and he turned a little, trying to get her in view.

She was once again pacing in the shadows of one of the buildings, away from people and disturbance. She stopped walking for a moment and stood there, suddenly hitting her forehead with the heel of her palm, muttering something that must've been along the lines of 'stupid, stupid, idiot, idiot' or something.

Allen might've been pleased with this sight if it didn't peak his curiosity first. Her distress actually seemed to irk him. Come on, what did she have to be so bent up over? Her life was practically perfect, her being on the "high road" and all that bullshit.

He watched as Millerna finally stopped her little show and headed inside the closest building and out of sight.

And then decided to find the answers he wanted later on. Perhaps he'd actually use words instead of tongue this time.

**xoxo**

"Hey! Celena!" A voice called, coming closer.

The blonde almost groaned to herself, but straightened up as she turned around to greet the person. "Hey Hitomi." She said, forcing a smile, until her mood got the better of her. "Are you stalking me or something?"

The other girl looked taken aback. Then smiled sheepishly. "Sorry, am I bothering you? I just thought..." She trailed off, looking up for a moment. "You look so down a lot, so maybe I could try to cheer you up. You can't stay like that forever, right?" Hitomi turned her eyes back to the blonde.

Celena stared at her, slightly suspicious. Finally shrugging she spoke again. "You wanna go and get something to eat and drink?"

Hitomi stared at her. "It's not lunch yet..." Was her confused reply, as she looked around at the other students tittering around the school grounds.

"That's ok. I need company anyway." She said again, grabbing the girl's wrist and dragging her along.

It took at least a twenty minute walk before they arrived at the place Celena was so eager to go to. Hitomi stared around it for a few minutes after they were seated in a private booth at the back.

"Uh... aren't we..." Hitomi tried to ask, forcing her eyes to peel away from the surroundings. "Isn't this...?"

"Yea, I know." Celena answered with ease.

"Have you been here before?" She asked again, staring across the table.

"A few times. For fun I suppose, with some girls I knew on the few times I got off from school to visit home." Celena nodded to herself.

"How'd we get in?"

"I know the guys here, they're kind of like Allen when it comes to me. They don't mind though. Whoever heard of a little saké hurting anyone?"

Hitomi blinked owlishly. "But I don't drink."

"Then don't. I'm not saying you have to do anything. You can just get something to eat." The blonde called over someone and began speaking in friendly tones to him, catching up, Hitomi guessed. Then she started talking about the food and soon the guy left with a smile, shaking his head.

"How often do you come here again?" Was Hitomi's suspicious response to this scene.

Celena laughed. "Not often at all. I just make friends easily. I'm just too sweet." She said, fluttering her lashes and trying to create an innocent look.

Hitomi's response was a nervous laugh. "Is there any reason why you wanted to come here? At this time of day? And wanting company?"

The blonde stared at her. "Weren't you the one who wanted to cheer me up?" They both stared at each other now. Then an idea hit. "Oh yeah! I've heard some things about you from Van." Celena said suddenly, smiling widely.

"Right." Hitomi said, stretching out the word and looking to the side. "What kind of things?"

She pretended to shrug. "Things. Like how he likes green eyes now." She said casually.

The brunette shot a dry look. "Nice try. I'm not buying it. It's Van for crying out loud. The only thing in his head is how to make it through another day staying carefree, which basically means he doesn't think all that much."

Celena laughed. "I see you've had his face in your head for a while now. Okay, I was kidding. Although he isn't really a bad guy at all." She said suggestively.

An eyebrow went up. "Are you trying to set me up or something? The furthest thing from my mind is to get involved with someone. Besides its hard enough being friends with Van."

"Ah, is that because you have other feelings for him, besides being friends?" Celena asked, leaning over the table with a grin.

"Yea actually." Hitomi leaned across, her poker face on. "Sometimes... I feel like hitting him, walking away and calling it a day."

"Or do you mean _hitting on him_?" She questioned again.

Hitomi straightened up in her seat. "Oh I see. If you're willing to try and pick on my relationship with Van you must be up for me bringing up you and Dilandau, right?" She also put on a grin.

The winning look on Celena's face faltered a bit. "What about me and Dilandau? There's nothing there." Was her response of trying to play it off.

"Actually..." She started off, feeling guilty. "I know everything already." Celena started paling and Hitomi looked up hurriedly. "No no, not _everything_. I haven't heard your side."

"And you expect me to spill my guts to you right now?" Celena asked with a grumpy look.

"Well it could be helpful... to talk about..." She trailed off, watching as the blonde got up and left the table mumbling something about the restroom. "Wow, that was smooth wasn't it?" Hitomi asked herself, slumping in her seat.

"Here you go." A voice said, and a person leaned over her shoulder to put a plate on the table. Hitomi, unfortunately was so startled by the interruption she jumped out of her seat, knocking into the guy who was behind her, causing them both to fall onto the floor.

"Oh... damnit." Hitomi whispered to herself, suddenly turning red in embarrassment. She quickly jumped off the guy's chest and stood next to his limp form.

"Ow... what just-" He started out, pushing himself to sit up and rubbing his back.

"I'm so sorry! You just- I just- I was just surprised, that's all. I'm so sorry about that." She said, feeling even more guilty, and just a tad bit stupid.

The guy looked up at her and shrugged it off. "It's nothing. I'm not that banged up anyway." He smiled slowly, taking in her appearance. "And besides, who wouldn't want to fall over a pretty girl?"

At the strange turn of events Hitomi froze up, her embarrassed smile still in place. She giggled nervously. "Uh... thanks."

**xoxo**

That's it. The world was coming to an end.

Or at least her life. Millerna couldn't help the dismal feeling as she left the school grounds, on her way home. She'd avoided any contact at all, with Dilandau and Hitomi, especially with Allen. She didn't know how much more stress she could take before cracking like an eggshell.

She had stayed in the library during lunch, brooding over how miserable her life was. She was pretty sure that if Dilandau and Hitomi caught a whiff of her mood they'd try to cheer her up, and she just didn't feel like being happy at the moment.

She also lied to get out of going to History, where Allen was most likely waiting to prey on her. Instead she took her free hall pass and wandered around the school and passing the time with boredom and anxiety.

Now though, it was soon going to be time to face the music. And it just couldn't be helped. Millerna trudged unwillingly in the direction that her house lay. She had no after school obligations and there was nothing else to do to waste time.

Except maybe jumping off a bridge.

The blonde sighed, although nothing in her posture or demeanor gave away the ill feelings brewing, or the fact that she was so tense her whole body ached.

She wanted to believe that she was worrying over nothing. It wasn't that she didn't love her family... but she couldn't stand them sometimes. She felt so much more inferior to both her sisters, and Eries had already caught her making out with Allen so there was even more humiliation to be gained once she recounted the details to Marlene and their mother. And what about-

Millerna stopped dead in her tracks, her mouth hanging open and eyes wide as she remembered. "Oh no." She groaned softly to herself, putting a hand to her forehead and closing her eyes.

She had completely forgotten about the deal with Dryden. Now there would be even more to discuss. Even so, Millerna forced her feet to move forward, though they felt as heavy as lead and she could hardly imagine how difficult it would be to open the front door.

**xoxo**

The day was ending just as strangely as it had begun. And the "school trip" they'd taken didn't help at all. It could hardly be called fun. Mostly just awkward and unsatisfying.

Hitomi wasn't as great company as she'd expected. But it might've been the environment. She did basically kidnap the poor girl and dragged her to the bar without letting her realize. Not completely fair, but the two did manage to get back to school half an hour later. Celena even paid for everything because of her guilty conscience.

After Celena got back to the table from the restroom she found Hitomi sitting down looking timid with her face slightly pink. She was probably fearing she'd get raped or something with all the older guys around them.

Either way it was pretty boring and pointless and nothing got done, for both of them. They did talk a bit about useless things but Celena got the impression that her "friend" was unnerved and was ready to leave.

The day pretty much went downhill after they got back to school. For Celena anyway. She had no idea what Hitomi was up to after they'd parted ways.

And now as she exited the school building, the only thing in her sight was a silver-haired figure standing in her path with his back to her. Only one thing could come to mind.

Greatest. Day. Ever.

A minute and a tap on the shoulder later she found herself facing irreplaceable red eyes.

Dilandau of course, was taken aback by the last person he expected to see. Not that he minded seeing Celena actually approach him of her own free will, but geez could she just make up her mind already? Did she still hate him? Did she want to rip out his guts? Did she just wanna forget everything and go back to being chipper and happy around him?

"Hey." She said simply, holding her shouldered bag with one hand.

"Hey." He tried out, eyes moving around her cautiously. He had to wonder if he was being trapped into something. Like getting jumped by Allen.

But even if she hated him for all he was worth, he doubted she'd wanna drag her brother into her own business.

Though the sad, pathetic truth was Celena had just seen him... and felt like saying hi. Simple as that. No ulterior motive or ill feelings bubbling up at all.

And she was definitely sick of everyone looking at her strangely just because she didn't feel like talking, or hanging out... or laughing or smiling or being in a good mood altogether. So why not just give them what they wanted, expected?

Besides, it felt better pretending to be happy. It was easier. Being mean and harsh and cold was just too difficult. Like banging your head against a wall to get through when there was a door right next to you.

"What's up?" She asked again, sounding quite amiable.

"Nothing." He answered back with a guarded expression. "You heading home?"

Celena managed to shrug. "I guess so. There isn't much else to do." She looked around briefly. "What about you? Waiting for someone?"

He blanched at the implication. "No." There was an awkward pause where they both glanced around some more. "How about I walk with you for a while? Is that okay?"

The blonde wanted to laugh at this. Since when was Dilandau so careful? Since when did he ask whether his presence was wanted or not? "Sure, whatever." She shook her head with a smile and started walking.

Dilandau was soon following behind her.

**xoxo**

She sighed to herself, a palm pressed against the door. Without even trying to gather herself, Millerna turned her key and pushed open the front door.

Immediately the sounds of light laughter and soft words hit her swiftly in the face. But she didn't bother pausing, as she dropped her keys on the nearest table, dumping her bag on the floor and locking the door again.

She followed the sounds, and suddenly found herself standing in the kitchen doorway, watching.

Arianna and Eries were engaged in what had to be a delightful conversation... for them anyway. Millerna was sure they were discussing her at the moment. She only stood there another minute before her presence was noticed.

"Millerna! How long have you been there?" Her mother asked, though she was still laughing from something said earlier. "How could you not tell me Eries was here? What kind of family are we, being so busy we don't notice when your sister's come home?"

Eries smiled at her sister from where the two sat at the kitchen table. Millerna didn't move from the doorway, but forced a weak smile that must have been enough.

"Sorry, I was just so tired. I barely noticed when she finally made herself known. This week's been..." Millerna paused as she caught her sister's eye. "... so hectic."

"Yeah, she went right to bed after I saw her. And I knew you were coming home late so I didn't wanna get you worked up at midnight or something. You'd never get any sleep then." Eries said, smiling as she turned back to Arianna. "I was going to arrive with Marlene, but she had some things to take care of and told me to just go ahead without her."

Arianna smiled brightly. "Oh, this is so wonderful. You all are going to be home again! It'll be just like before you two moved out."

Eries rolled her eyes. "Mom you say this every year. It hasn't been that long compared to other families. Besides, we wouldn't miss your birthday for anything." She glanced at Millerna again. "The best I can stay this time is two weeks."

Millerna gulped in the corner. "A week more than usual? What's up? I thought-"

"I got a promotion!" Eries squealed out. "Ah, damnit. I wanted to wait until Marlene was here to tell you guys." She sighed to herself, still smiling.

Their mother on the other hand was just as excited. Arianna jumped up to give her daughter a hug. "This is great! We'll have so many things to celebrate this year!"

The only blonde in the room who didn't seem too keen on any of this just folded her arms and stared hard at her sister. But she guessed from the way her mother was acting, Eries hadn't said a thing about Allen. And likewise, Eries probably didn't know about the arrangement with Dryden going down the drain or else she'd be shooting her mouth off with questions.

She barely registered that she was suddenly engulfed by a hug from her sister, then mother, who were both too excited and happy about the aforementioned occasions to suspect anything wrong with the youngest daughter.

"When is Marlene gonna be here?" Millerna choked out through the second hug from Eries.

"No clue." Eries responded as she pulled back. "But she'll make it, no problem about that. Otherwise I'd fly over there myself to drag her butt here."

Millerna forced another smile and short laugh. Arianna looked so happy she'd explode. Eries, who was beaming, suddenly glanced at Millerna and winked.

Millerna sighed and took this as a sign. She would probably need to talk with Eries about that situation later on. And then for the first time in days she let herself smile and cheer along with her mom and older sister as they discussed what restaurant they should go to and past birthdays around this time.

It was never as bad as she prepared for it to be. Maybe she was just too cynical.

**xoxo**

Celena couldn't help glancing around and the sigh that came out. If only Dilandau weren't being so awkward and unlike himself.

But then she had wonder at her own spontaneous behavior. It felt like...

She blinked at herself.

It felt like she'd already solved the problem and now she was just waiting to put the solution into effect. But what problem had that been again? Not talking to Dilandau? Dealing with guys in general? Dealing with her new life in general?

Or was it really that prickly feeling she got when thinking of how he might've used her and when she saw how close he was with Millerna and Hitomi.

The blonde stopped herself in mid-stride, blinking rapidly as her foot waited to be planted onto the ground again.

'Do I like Dilandau or something?' She thought to herself.

A few steps behind her Dilandau also paused in his walk, giving her a curious look. "Hey, what's up?" He questioned.

"You know," She turned to smile cheerfully at him. "I really gotta get home. I'll just see you in school tomorrow, right? Bye!" Celena said swiftly, giving a small wave and turning back to quicken her pace.

He didn't bother following after her, since there wasn't any point in tagging along in the first place. She did seem in a hurry all of a sudden, which had to be strange considering her amiable attitude earlier. Something had to be up.

Then again maybe she was just saving him from Allen's wrath, who knew?

The teenage boy just shook his head and turned around, sticking his hands in his pockets...

Only to discover something he hadn't done in a long time. So instead of wasting his time brooding over the situation with Celena he went home to give a call to his two favorite pep talkers, flicking the object in his hand all the way there.

**xoxo**

**Okay, I** know that there's still barely any Celena and Dilandau going on. And I feel so bad that she hasn't even called him Dilly the whole time. Sorry, I'm not sure what's going on. But there are things going on with Millerna, Van and Hitomi, right? I think things are moving along somewhat, though still pretty slow I guess.

Also, sorry about the long update. I got sidetracked by another project... or a few other projects. But yeah, it's another fanfic that I just haven't posted yet but you can read about it in my "bio". It's a Naruto fic with five couples. No wonder it took so much time, right?

Well, I shouldn't waste time here going on about it. I think I know how to start the next chapter already but don't hold your breath for it to come out.

Thanks for waiting! And thanks for being impatient too! Random reviews for this story and coughDCcough made me guilty so I finally stopped with the Naruto fic and started this chapter. Also, I've picked where I left off on the next chapter for _Different Colors_. And I know it took forever but I found my groove again so I'll be working to try and finish it... but it looks like it'll turn out to be so big, prolly over 10, 11, maybe even 12 thousand words. Most likely more because there's so much I wanted to get in there. It'll be worth it.

As always, check my profile for updates and such.

Ciao.

**2-12-07**

**5:32pm**


	20. Chapter 20

4-2-07

12:38am

**xoxo**

**Title-Are you stalking me?!**

**Chapter 20**

**By-Moon Prynces**

**xoxo**

Against his better judgment, the teenage boy picked up something and brought it eye level for inspection. A minute later, after much thought, a flick was heard and a small flame appeared but only for a moment.

"I'm gonna regret this later, aren't I?" Dilandau asked himself, looking up at the sky and breathing out with a sigh.

A cloud of grey smoke came out through the part of his lips and he shook his head. It had been a while since he'd smoked a cigarette but he hadn't lost his touch or anything. In fact, it seemed easier now than before.

But he did realize that his new found female friends would beat the life out of him for picking up this distasteful habit. And really he'd never been one to smoke habitually, just once in a while when he _felt like it_. Which to a teenager meant it wasn't even something he enjoyed or got anything out of but it was there.

Honestly, the silver-haired boy realized he'd almost forgotten about it until he'd found his lighter the other day. And that he had to say was pathetic because he absolutely loved that lighter.

A few minutes later Dilandau threw the cigarette butt on the floor and stomped on it angrily, as if that would make any difference.

He really did feel stupid about the way he acted around Celena the other day. Being so unsure of himself and following her like a lost puppy made him just want to run out in traffic.

Then again he was really just looking for the right opportunity to talk to her. And a few times he _did _feel like just following her around until he found the perfect moment to bring up the subjects plaguing his mind.

Dilandau shook his head once more and pulled his jacket closer. It was actually very early in the morning as he stood outside on the school grounds, almost as hour before classes began. And he bet he probably looked like a mess thanks to some insomnia and his new habit.

He kicked the dirt on his way to get some breakfast, wondering why he chose the school grounds as his comfort spot.

**xoxo**

He hated to admit it, but something was starting to get to him. It had to be Hitomi. And he didn't want to figure out why, but that seemed impossible.

Just the other day Folken had called him asking about the brunette and making comments like 'how _will_ you afford the ring?' accompanied by fake gasps and all.

And Van had the decency to blush like a maniac instead of stabbing his brother with his own collection of cruel jokes. Which tipped him off that something was going on.

Now, and he had no idea why, Van found himself escorting Hitomi from her home to school, via walking. As he pretended to listen to her babble about something excitedly, he stared hard at the pavement trying to figure it out.

Then he glanced up just in time with a nod and smile to catch her broad stretch of lips as well and he stopped thinking.

Hitomi smiled good-naturedly as she finished her story and turned back to look in front of her. It had been awfully nice of him to want to meet up and head to school together. Of course she was the one to show up to his house since he was closer and it was on her way.

She did notice he was acting a little strange, but then again he _was_ strange. She also noticed how he watched her just a little too closely, so that she couldn't help but glance back at him as well.

What was going on, she'd never know. A few long moments of silence passed as they continued their gait and neither spoke.

Van however was suddenly feeling winded and achy. He badly wanted to turn around and head back to bed for the day. And he still couldn't figure out why.

Yes, why? Why had he wanted to walk with her to school this morning? In fact, why did he want to spend more time with her recently, above all people? It wasn't just that she was fun to hang around and their humor meshed together was pretty entertaining. He had Allen and Celena too.

He glanced back at her and their eyes met.

"What's up with you?" She asked in an amused voice.

"Oh nothing." Was his response as he clammed up and was suddenly walking quite rigid. Another minute... "Sorry." He blurted out. "About yesterday. And getting you angry. You did run off pretty quick." Van said, changing the subject swiftly.

Hitomi looked around with an embarrassed expression. "Yeah, well don't worry about it. It's not that you upset me or anything."

But as they kept walking Van did have to wonder back to his thoughtless comment about their chemistry. Now that he _did_ think about it... it seemed pretty true. Except he felt it'd be strange to bring it up again.

He was still trying to figure out the great big puzzle in his head already. He'd rather not let her in on anything before she ran off again. She did seem like the type of person who'd get uncomfortable at such a confrontation. Or maybe that was him.

Besides. Chemistry? Bah, what had he been talking about? Van didn't even know.

Chemistry. Chemistry. Chemistry.

Like what? Like what he was feeling right now? Or how they felt when they were arguing and joking around with each other, or even both?

What was he feeling right now anyway?

The dark haired boy looked up and openly stared at his companion. Though luckily for Hitomi, who was feeling uncomfortable with his gaze, the school gates were coming closer and soon they'd part ways for their separate classes.

**xoxo**

Millerna sighed through her first few classes of the day, feeling quite relaxed and at ease. But she was sure the feeling wouldn't last long since she'd spent most of her life worrying over something or other.

It was nice to have spent the night reminiscing and laughing along with her mom and sister instead of dreading things she shouldn't. Really, she did worry too much. She'd probably get gray hairs when she hit twenty.

There was still the arrival of Marlene to be expected and Millerna found herself actually looking forward to it. If not for her eldest sister's presence, then at least to hear about her only nephew. Although things seemed to be going well for Marlene, it was hardly mentioned or remembered that her marriage had been arranged.

The blonde picked up her pencil and looked down at the paper in front of her, getting a head start on the homework she knew would be assigned at the end of class.

Twenty minutes later the bell had rung and she'd finished the homework without being caught. Millerna swiftly got up and proceeded to put her things in her bag before striding out the classroom doors.

She wasn't dumb not to notice the few murmurs and glances still being sent her way but chose to ignore them all and kept walking with her usual confident aura.

Which was hard to do once she was jerked to the side from some unknown force and pulled through a doorway to an empty staircase leading down to an emergency exit.

"What-" She tried to voice, though a hand landed on her mouth and she found herself staring blankly at her 'captor'. A moment of silence later he removed his hand and stared at the blonde female hopefully.

"Hey." Was his nervous greeting.

Millerna eyed the boy in front of her strangely. "Uh... hi, Van." She responded. "Can I help you with something?" She raised a brow at him.

Likewise, his own brows furrowed for a moment in concentration, staring down. Then his dark eyes looked back up at her. "I wanted to ask you something..." He stated.

She waited a moment before sighing in exasperation and putting a hand on her hip. "Well then ask already."

He stared wide-eyed for a second, still trying to gather himself. "Well... has Hitomi said anything about me lately?"

The blonde let her brow go up again. "Why?" But he didn't answer anyway and she took pity on him. "Actually I haven't talked to her lately myself. So I wouldn't know anything..." She trailed at the nervous look he was wearing. "What's going on?"

"Nothing." Van paused here, staring at her openly. "It's just things have been a little weird is all."

The two spent a moment staring around the small staircase. Millerna was wondering how her friends were doing and decided maybe she ought to head to lunch and try to find them. She'd figure out what was causing Van to be so jumpy and unlike himself.

"I'll see you later. Just... don't say I said anything." He mumbled on his way out the emergency exit doors.

**xoxo**

"Millerna!" She called out happily. Beside her Dilandau sat there as if she'd chained him to the table.

The blonde smiled as she neared the table and Hitomi smiled up at her. "Hey, long time no see."

"It's only been a few days." Dilandau grumbled out.

"Don't mind him. He literally woke up on the wrong side of the bed. Or was it that you didn't get enough sleep?" Hitomi asked, looking at him pensively.

The silver-haired boy carefully leaned back in his chair to avoid any intense gaze they might give him. He pretended to muffle a sigh and mumbled something at the same time so that it was incoherent babble to their ears.

"Nice." Millerna commented, shooting him a dry look.

"Where have you been anyway? I meant to call but homework distracted me last night." Hitomi went on, leaning across the table on her elbows.

"Oh, just some family things I had to deal with. And been busy with a project too." Millerna waved a hand dismissively and then remembered her project with Allen. And Allen. And that day. And soon she found her body temperature rising.

"O-kay." The brunette said, looking a little concerned. Then she sighed and blew her hair away from her face. "Van's been acting kinda strange." To her indulgence of information the other two parties perked up and began listening attentively. Hitomi shrugged her shoulders. "Maybe I was wrong to try and be friends with him in the first place. I wonder if he'll just turn around and start acting like a jerk all over again. I mean... am I too trusting now?" She asked, looking up at the two.

Next to her Dilandau coughed loudly, but barely suppressed a grin. Hitomi smacked his arm with a glare. Millerna stared blankly, unsure how to answer.

"Why are you laughing?" Hitomi asked him loudly.

He tried to keep a straight face. "It's just... it sounds so dumb. You're worrying over nothing."

"How can you say that?" She screeched. "What if I'm so trusting that I walk into a trap and get myself kidnapped or something?"

Now Millerna couldn't help but smile as well. The topic was turning a little silly and hysterical. "You're not." She answered easily, trying to calm the other girl down. "And if Van did try to trap you into anything you'd probably scratch out an eye or something. Then Dilandau and I would beat him up the next day." Millerna shrugged.

"Come on, is that what you're really worried about?" Dilandau chimed in with his grin. "Or... maybe it's not being physically attacked but having him take advantage of your trust and then throwing you away afterwards?" The girls stared as the pyromaniac felt a familiar itch in his hand.

"That was pretty good Dr. Phil." Millerna said, blinking at him innocently. "Now maybe you could tell me why I can't stop craving chocolate ice cream." Hitomi laughed lightly and Dilandau just glared back. "But you know, I think he's got something."

Millerna sat there as Hitomi mumbled a thanks to the good doctor, wondering what Van was so freaked out about. From Hitomi's point of view, she was afraid of him. But the way he'd been acting earlier it seemed he was scared of her. Was there any end to their insane relationship?

Finally Dilandau mumbled something about seeing Celena around often. When he didn't elaborate and pulled out a lighter that he began to flick open and closed the girls looked away without a word.

"Anything new happen with you?" Hitomi asked the older girl. Dilandau looked up at her with a pointed look.

"Yeah, anything?" He asked suddenly, looking fascinated.

"Uh..." The blonde backed up slightly. Feeling compelled to _not lie_ she said something unexpected. "My sisters are visiting."

"You have sisters?" Hitomi asked, and then sighed. "Wish I did. Little brothers are too annoying sometimes."

"Er... yeah..." She shifted around, suddenly embarrassed at what she knew was going to come. "But that's not what Dilandau meant." She shot him a look, to which he replied by looking around 'confused' and shrugging in an exaggerated manner.

"Oh..." Hitomi replied, staring innocently. Luckily she wasn't one to pass judgment so quickly on her new friends. If they both knew something and hadn't told her, well there wasn't any real reason to jump to conclusions and get all angry about it, right?

"Yeah, well I took your advice and ended up making out with the enemy turned partner the other day." Millerna rushed out, trying to look as casual as possible.

"Ah..." Hitomi stared even longer, blinking as she took it in. Dilandau smirked at the blonde who was avoiding anyone's gaze. "Millerna, was that your first kiss?"

At this question, the two looked up abruptly at the brunette. "Uh... I didn't think of that." Millerna responded, furrowing her brows together. "Actually... it isn't. There was a time before that in the bathroom... and when he came to my house too..."

"What?" Hitomi asked.

"It doesn't matter anyway. But the point is... I wasn't thinking of it so much. Just... well we both got caught up in it..." To herself she added, 'So much that I didn't even realize Eries was watching us.'

"So I take it the experience was enjoyable?" Hitomi asked again, this time wearing a grin like Dilly had been.

"Well, yeah. Why else would I have done it? I mean, he may be an insufferable asshole but he's pretty good at kissing." The blonde admitted, not looking too concerned about it. "And I might as well start somewhere. It's not like he counts or anything..." Though by now the blonde looked a little perturbed.

"But you don't seem too worried about anything." Dilandau stated, drawing her attention. "You're not afraid of him betraying you or turning on you or something?"

Millerna just shrugged to herself. "Well what trust of mine does he have? None. Because I don't recall handing over anything to him."

"But what if he tries to blackmail you or tells someone anything about your... uh, intimate time together?" Hitomi questioned again.

"Um, I hadn't thought about it." She replied thoughtfully, trying to come up with an answer. "But I doubt he'd really want to tell anyone anything about me. He likes to give the impression that he hates being around me, like I'd ruin his blemish free reputation or something." Millerna snorted in disgust.

"So let me get this straight." Dilandau interrupted, causing the two girls to turn to him. "So you both are _almost_ romantically involved with two guys-"

"No Dilandau, one guy. Haven't you been listening?" Millerna said sarcastically. Hitomi just laughed.

"Geez, I think someone forgot to meet up with Schezar for their daily- mmpf!" Dilandau was cut off as Millerna leaned over the table and stuffed an apple from Hitomi's lunch into his mouth.

"What's that Dilandau? Can't hear ya." She commented, cupping an ear mockingly.

"Right." He said after glaring and pulling away the fruit. "So... where was I? Oh yeah. So you both are... _involved_ or something with someone, but Hitomi's more afraid that Van's gonna turn into a jerk and try to screw her over, in any way. While you're just all 'I don't care, I'll take it as it comes' about Allen being all over you?" The girls thought this over a moment before nodding simultaneously. He made a face. "You both are strange."

"Of course we are Dilly." Hitomi replied, munching into a french fry as 'Dilly' turned pink.

**xoxo**

Celena blinked, wondering about the sight she was witnessing. Cautiously she walked over behind the soon to be victim. Of course he was too caught up in his illegal act and sighing to himself to notice her.

"That isn't healthy." She stated over his shoulder.

Dilandau felt relieved that someone had finally said something. And he turned around to meet the slightly concerned gaze of Celena, who didn't seem to mind him. "Yeah, I know." He responded, looking down at the cigarette in his hand and making a face.

"Then why do it at all?" She questioned, also glancing down at the object.

He shrugged. "I haven't figured that out yet."

"How long?"

"It's a newly acquired habit." He stated indignantly. "Hopefully it's not a habit and just some weird phase. Except that it's the kind where I feel like I can't live without it."

Celena then looked up at his face. "You're on school grounds. What would happen if you got caught?"

He proceeded to rake a hand through his hair with the other hand. "No idea. Principal's being a little weird too. Trying to get us to shape up, I guess."

There was a pause. And then Celena reached over to grab the stick from his fingers and threw it on the floor to step on it with ease. "There. Now you're done." She hesitantly smiled at him. "Because I don't feel like inhaling second hand smoke or seeing you slowly kill yourself."

"That's a surprise." He mumbled, glancing away. "Didn't know you'd be sticking around for conversation anyway."

"Aw come on Dilly, why wouldn't I?" At this she smiled fully and circled him. Unexpectedly, she moved behind him and grabbed at his cheeks, stretching them in weird ways.

"'Rut r'are you doing?" He asked, blinking in confusion.

"Nothing!" She said, letting go as he turned around to look at her curiously. "I mean, I was helping you breathe out all that air full of tar and whatever other junk cigarettes have!" The blonde grinned brightly at him.

Dilandau waited, before staring suspiciously. "Don't you have a class now?"

"Don't you?" She shot back automatically.

They spent a moment glaring at each other. That is, before Celena burst out laughing without reason. Of course she realized she looked foolish and even a little crazy, and truthfully she didn't have a clue as to why she was reacting this way. But some weird feeling was bubbling up in her that just made her feel like laughing, so she did. She felt like laughing for a long time just to get it out, except she didn't have the time for that.

Dilandau had no opinion of her behavior, especially when he'd been acting strange as of late too. And he couldn't help but grin at her reaction to... whatever he'd done.

Unfortunately he missed when she had managed to slip a hand into his jacket pocket and steal his lighter and current pack of cigarettes. He did however, notice when she stopped laughing and walked past him.

"Nice talking to you, Dilly." She said cheerfully.

Dilandau smiled, moving a hand to scratch behind his head. But only when she was about to enter one of the school buildings did she pulled out the two objects and threw them up in the air once before catching them and shooting a small grin over her shoulder at him.

He gaped in shock a second before frantically checking his pockets and then looking up. "H-hey!" He tried to call her. "Hey! I know where you live!" He tried again, shaking a fist crazily, even though she wouldn't turn around.

**xoxo**

"Hey." He whispered, sliding into his seat behind her. "Haven't seen you in a while." Which was actually a strange thing to admit, maybe because it did feel like a while even though he'd seen her just yesterday.

Millerna, who had been spacing off in wonder at the situation between Hitomi and Van, totally missed the arrival of Allen Schezar. Not quite sure if she still wanted to ignore him or not, she didn't answer and pretended to not have heard him.

Of course Allen knew she'd heard once she froze up predictably. Instead of gritting his teeth and glaring, he settled for leaning back in the chair and trying to pay attention to the class.

All of a sudden he wasn't too interested in bothering her. Really, what was that point of going for public humiliation? He could just imagine her squirming in her seat. Having her torture herself was easier anyway.

And if he hadn't had this time to think, Allen was sure he would've forgotten the purpose of being a thorn in her side. Because of her attitude, her lies and façade that completely pissed him off... at the beginning. But now that he'd successfully gotten past that and realized she was just another little girl underneath the confident front... he was supposed to expose her?

Yeah, maybe. But it didn't seem like the way to go. It was just nicer, easier, _cleaner_ to keep everything between them. Besides, he had to admit... it'd been a while since he'd done anything with a girl.

It was enjoyable, making out with her. Funny enough that she kept trying to make up for her lack of experience.

He leaned forward suddenly. "Hey, why don't I stop by this afternoon to work on our project some more?" He asked through a smirk. "I'm sure you won't mind, right?"

Millerna glanced at him over her shoulder. "Actually..." She let her eyes slide over to the floor. "I can't. I've got family things to deal with, sorry."

And if he had been paying attention, he might've suspected her of being a little _too_ apologetic. "What's going on?"

The blonde female sighed as she turned back to the board. "Marlene's coming home. And Eries is probably sitting in their room bored to death."

Allen blinked. "I thought they both moved out."

"They did." She said lightly, scribbling something in her notebook with her well-practiced handwriting. "It's that time of the year again." She commented with a heavier sigh.

After that though, she didn't say anything more. He had to wonder if it had something to do with the missing father figure. Maybe the anniversary of his death or something? In that case, even he was sensitive enough to tread lightly on these matters and chose to keep his mouth shut on the topic.

This time it was her who initiated conversation. She turned around in her chair almost fully, not minding that the teacher would notice.

"Hey, remember that day I slapped you in front of the entire class?" She asked with a pleasant smile, to go along with the not-so pleasant subject on her tongue.

He stared a moment before becoming disgruntled and glared out the window. "Yeah." He mumbled. "Why?" And then glanced back at her face.

"Nothing! I just felt like reminding you." She said cheerfully with what had to be a devious expression, and turned around again.

Allen glared at the back of her head. Of course he knew he could go shooting off his mouth with recollections of their intimate time spent together but it'd be too predictable and he was feeling too burnt at her comment to retort.

Millerna grinned to herself, adeptly back to taking notes. "I do have to wonder though." She whispered for him to hear and leaning back a little and putting the back of her pencil to her lip. "Why're you such a jerk? Why can't you be more like Van? I mean the less obnoxious and asshole Van." She let her eyes dart back at his expressionless face.

"What fun would that be?" He shot back, making a face and putting his head in a palm.

"Since you've never tried it, how would you know?" She shot back, narrowing her eyes at him. "I know you like quizzing me on... well, me. But what if I asked about your own behavior?"

Allen scratched his leg and looked unbothered. With a yawn he answered. "Go ahead then."

Turning her head to look at him, Millerna started off. "What's with the long hair for one thing?" She made a face at this. "Come on, don't you realize what century we're in?"

"You have long hair!" He argued back, suddenly very offended at the remark.

At this Millerna picked up the end of her hair and twisted it around a bit. "Sure, but I'm a girl. The 'in' look for most guys is short hair, or at least shoulder length. I thought you were more style conscious than that Allen." She said, putting on a mockingly disappointed tone.

He couldn't help the gritting of his teeth. "Whatever. If you hadn't noticed, it suits me better. I guess I'm just meant to wear this style, even though _no one else_ in this day and age can pull it off right." The Schezar said with a triumphant smirk, managing to twist the words around in his favor.

Millerna just rolled her eyes. "Fine. But just to let you know, you look like a girl to me."

"And no one asked you." He responded automatically. "What with your questionable taste and all." He wrinkled his nose and grinned. "Though I did enjoy that outfit you wore... what was it? A tank top and tights? With fuzzy slippers right?"

She turned pink at the memory. "You showed up unexpectedly! Besides, I can wear what I want at home!"

He raised a brow. "So what? You don't wear what _you want_ outside the house? And what about the second time I came over? You still looked like a mess and you knew I'd be there."

Once again she looked miffed. "Shut up. What do you want me to say? My bad? Woops?" She closed her eyes with nose turned up.

Putting his head back in his palm, Allen stared. "For someone with such sad style you still look pretty good."

Millerna blinked in confusion at the comment.

"Though I'm sure it's just another thing you practiced to keep up a perfect appearance." He went on.

She sighed. "Still as much of a jerk as ever."

**xoxo**

Van chose not to comment as the two of them continued on their way. Hitomi didn't seem to pay much attention to him, seeing as he couldn't seem to open his mouth.

And why was he so nervous all of a sudden anyway? It was just Hitomi. And they were just walking home. What was there to be afraid of?

Still, he couldn't help the strange feeling he had that made him worry of saying or doing the wrong thing.

"You okay?" She finally asked, glancing at him sharply.

Van's posture went rigid again. "Yeah, fine I guess."

Trying to steer towards something more comfortable Hitomi ventured forth. "You know, I've never met your sister or mom before. Why is it when I come over the house is conveniently empty?" She questioned with a grin.

The raven-haired boy found himself grinning as well. "The answer's obvious isn't it? It's so no one will be around when I finally do try to attack you and turn you into my slave." He pretended to sigh at her ignorance. "Geez Hitomi, I thought you were the smart one."

She quirked an eyebrow. "So are you calling yourself the dumb one then?"

"Hey, there's no need to put me down." He said, turning to her with a grin. "I was just stating a fact."

Hitomi openly laughed at him, happy to have the less tense, more fun atmosphere back. "So what exactly will we be doing at your house? And please, try to stay away from the innuendos of things that are never gonna happen."

Although still joking, Van was starting to get strange ideas. "And why isn't it possible that anything like that could happen?"

She looked at him amusedly. "You haven't even mentioned what it is you're talking about."

"You brought it up first, shouldn't you already know?" Van asked, looking away nonchalantly.

She turned to him again, this time with a curious gaze. "I _was_ wondering actually... how many girlfriends have you had?" Hitomi questioned as Van seemed to choke on air.

"W-what? Why does that matter?" He asked back quickly.

"Are you going out with someone right now? Can I meet her?" She continued without listening to him. "Cuz you know I'd like to know now before I run into her and she accuses me of trying to steal you or something."

"I don't have a girlfriend!" He shouted in rebuttal. "Where'd you get such a stupid idea from anyway? Have you seen me hanging out with any other girls?" Van looked offended.

Hitomi just shrugged. "You never know. People hide all sorts of things. You could be going out with someone in secret."

He looked at her dryly. "Okay, well now you know. Don't get so jealous." Though his voice sounded sarcastic and flat. "And why'd you bring up such a random topic anyway?"

"I thought you'd be at least a little pompous like Allen in this area." Then she looked at him cautiously. "Do you need to come out of the closet or something?" Van face-faulted at the suggestion. "Because you might as well admit it now. I'll know if you're lying." She went on.

Van's dark eyes nearly popped out of his head. "Me?" He questioned disbelievingly.

"Ah, so you _are_ hiding something." Hitomi stated, looking ahead. "Don't even bother telling me, I bet I'll figure it out before I leave your house."

Van smacked his forehead with an open palm and kept walking with her, rolling his eyes as well.

**xoxo**

As Millerna made her way through the usual crowds on her way home, she realized how much she was in need of another kiss. Not that she wanted to sound needy or anything... but it just felt so nice.

For all the questioning they'd had at lunch, she wondered if Hitomi had been down that road already. And it was just obvious that Dilandau wasn't as sheltered as herself and Hitomi so asking such a thing was pointless.

'With the way Allen was acting, I'd say he wanted to do something more than study too.' She thought to herself, smirking just a little. It was just amusing to her that she had a little bit of power over him. 'Maybe I should hold out on him a little longer.' Millerna thought evilly.

She hardly noticed as her house came closer, and almost walked right past it. And she definitely didn't notice the unusual car parked in the driveway.

But opening the front door did prove to be a big shock when someone suddenly threw themself onto her in a hug and squealed in excitement.

"Millerna!" She cried out happily, still holding her sister tightly.

"I don't think she's breathing." Eries said, leaning against the wall and tilting her head to see.

"You're home!" Millerna managed to choke out, dropping her things and returning the hug slowly.

"It's so good to see you!" Marlene gushed, pulling back a little. "I'm so glad to be home! I can't wait to see mom now either!" She turned to look at Eries. "When'll she be home?"

Millerna answered quickly. "Around five or six. We've got about three hours to kill till then."

"I have a great way we can pass the time!" Marlene suddenly suggested, eyes gleaming at her two younger siblings.

Eries let out a breath to blow away the stray strand of hair in her face. "Oh no."

An hour later, the three sisters found themselves sitting around the living room, attempting to start a second bottle of alcohol.

"What'll mom say when she gets home?" Eries question, taking a delicate sip to hide her inebriated state. She sat reclining on the largest sofa while Marlene chose to sit on the floor in front of the coffee table and Millerna took her own separate couch. "Millerna's still a minor too." She added.

The eldest of them just waved her hands around. "No one's going to arrest her in her own house just for having some fun."

Millerna stayed quiet as they chattered about something or other. Which is how she'd been most of the time unless they spoke to her. She decided that drinking wasn't so bad, even though it was her first time trying it.

"Were you carrying around that bottle, ready to wield it at any time?" Eries asked in a dry voice. She held out her cup, motioning for more to be poured in it.

"I don't think you mind all that much, do you?" Marlene shot back.

"What happened to being the responsible one?" Eries asked again.

Millerna watched as she just shrugged. "I am responsible. Chid's still alive isn't he?" The two laughed at her joke.

"How is he anyway?" Millerna asked after breaking out of her stupor.

"Aww, I wasn't planning on breaking out the pictures until later." Marlene turned around and shuffled through her bag. "But since you insist..." And then turned around with an album with at least a hundred pages stuffed randomly with pictures all over.

Smiling, Millerna grabbed at it greedily. "Couldn't you be a bit more organized?" She asked before opening it and having a few photos spill out.

"I tried." She shrugged. "But then it got full and then there wasn't enough room so I started just putting them in whenever I got some more."

Snatching up a few pictures from the floor herself, Eries commented. "Maybe you should have looked them over first. All I see are thumbs and cut off people." A few seconds later. "Marlene are you naked in this one?!"

Millerna looked up briefly as her eldest sister grabbed the photo with a laugh. "So these are all the pictures you took in the past year?" She asked, stopping their commotion.

"What can I say? I get carried away with a camera." Marlene responded, taking another gulp from her glass. "I'm like my family's own paparazzi!" She said, clapping her hands and smiling cutely.

"Are you drunk already?" Eries asked, shaking her head and waving her cup around a little too much.

Ignoring this, Marlene turned to her youngest sibling. "So how have things been going since we've been gone?"

"We only visited just a few months ago." Eries said, adding her two cents in.

"Uh, fine. Mom doesn't work so much anymore and I'm doing great in school." Millerna responded, feeling herself inch backwards.

"Come sit here." Marlene patted the space on the floor next to her and Millerna obliged, so that they now both leaned on the sofa where Eries laid on. "That's the most boring description I've ever heard! Isn't there anything more going on in your life you wanna talk about?" For a moment Millerna stared, sure that Eries must've told her about that day... "Come on! Tell us!" Marlene looked at her pleading like a little kid. "Any gossip or somebody you wanna complain about? Cuz that's what we're here for and all."

"Actually I think it's cuz you're looking for something to amuse you while you're drunk." Eries added in.

Millerna sighed, deciding to say something. "Well see I've got these friends-"

"Oh my god! You have friends!" Marlene started visibly shaking with raw excitement, like she was on a sugar high. "Isn't that great Eries?!"

Not as drunk as her older sister, Eries just rolled her eyes. "I don't think that was the point of the story."

She started giggling softly anyway. "Okay, okay. Go on."

Mentally preparing herself, Millerna abruptly downed the rest of her cup and started again. "Actually I do have some things I wanna tell you..." Here she made eye contact with Eries to mean something. "But maybe later." She waved a hand and poured herself some more.

"That's the spirit!" Marlene shouted, completely forgetting about the more serious matters as she watched her sister's actions.

The next hour they spent reliving their childhood and talking about Marlene's life with Chid and his father. After drinking quite a bit, the pounding of Millerna's heart in her ears was replaced by the buzz in the atmosphere around her sisters.

**xoxo**

"I thought you'd have food." She stated, looking down at him and trying to cover the laugh with her hand.

"I thought so too." Van replied, scratching his head and standing up after searching through another cupboard. "I guess Folken stopped by or something."

"Wow, you sure know how to woo a girl. And I suppose you're just too lazy to go out and get something for us to eat." Hitomi said, pretending to talk to herself.

"Well we do have some strawberries and whip cream." Van said after looking around in the fridge.

Hitomi caught his mischievous glance. "Ha-ha. I'm sure that works on Allen all the time." She replied.

"Oh come on." He scoffed, closing the refrigerator door. "I'd never need to convince Allen." Van grinned at her as they walked back to the living room.

"Is that a confession?" She asked pointedly, looking very much serious. When he did a double take to stare at her she burst out laughing.

Blinking innocently, as well as exaggeratedly, he asked, "Ms. Kanzaki, are you trying to hit on me?"

As she reached over to snatch the remote control from his grasp, unsuccessfully, she snorted at him. "Right, and that's the way to do it. Accuse you of seducing your best friend who happens to be a guy. Remind me to get you some therapy."

Van pulled away as she tried to grab the object in his possession once more, causing her to end up halfway across his lap. He only stuck out his tongue and waved it around at a distance. Hitomi glared and swore out loud, and quite overdramatically, that she'd get it no matter what.

Unfortunately, since he wasn't paying attention to it, he'd accidentally turned on the TV and channels started whizzing by. Still stretching over and attempting to lift herself off, the front door suddenly flew open and made the two teens look up.

A girl with pink hair stared at the two with a paper grocery bag in her arms. After a pause she turned her head slightly to someone outside the house, still keeping her eyes on the two. "Mom! Van and his girlfriend are home!"

At the vicious look Van sent the girl, she smiled happily and bounced her way into the kitchen. Hitomi let her mouth drop open in shock. Moments later, a woman with long, dark hair walked into the house with her own set of brown paper bags. To this Van immediately got up to take them from her hands and headed to the kitchen.

"Thanks, honey." She smiled and watched him walk off. Then she looked around to spot Hitomi sitting on the couch, holding the remote securely in her hands while a commercial advocating safe sex came up on the TV. Hitomi was sure she'd die. "Hello, I'm Van's mother, Varie." The woman moved over to offer her hand.

Just as the brunette reached her hand out, the other withdrew hers, making Hitomi feel foolish.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I should probably wash my hands first." Walking to the kitchen, she turned back with a smile. "And you must be hungry, there wasn't anything to eat, right? Just come and we'll get you something." She motioned with her hands

Hitomi, not wanting to come off rude, got up to follow the Fanel family into the kitchen. Where she found the girl from before and Van emptying the bags and putting away the food products they'd held.

It was pretty funny actually, seeing him argue with the pink-haired girl over who was closer to the refrigerator and thus should put away this and that and who called the bag of barbeque potato chips and other trivial things.

Eyeing Hitomi carefully, Varie grabbed something and held it up. "Do you want anything to drink, sweetie? Chocolate milk? It's good for you." Varie stated convincingly with a smile.

"Um, sure." Hitomi nodded. Van didn't bother looking up, just rolling his eyes as his sister threw something frozen at him.

"Hi! I'm Merle." The pink-haired girl suddenly drove her hand into front of Hitomi's face. "Van's little sister."

Hitomi stared a moment in confusion. "I'm Hitomi, Van's fr-"

"I know who you are!" Merle said, glancing at her brother slyly. "Van talks about you _all_ the time you know. I didn't think he could get such a pretty girlfriend." She grinned as two people in the room had heart attacks.

"Shut up!" Van shouted, throwing a package of sliced bread at her. Merle turned around and caught it in time.

"You two, she's a guest. Try to hold off on the fighting till she leaves." Varie said with an exasperated sigh. "So Hitomi, I'd like to know all about you."

"Actually Mom, we were just gonna go out to eat." Van interrupted, diving between the two and grabbing Hitomi's wrist.

"Oh yeah, didn't look like that to me, when you two were on the sofa. Sprawled over each other." Merle added with her grin, twirling around the kitchen and stuffing something into a cabinet.

As Van glared at his sister and dragged Hitomi out of the kitchen and down the hall, Varie just shook her head before smiling. "Come around anytime, Hitomi!" She called out with a small wave.

"Sorry bout that. Little sisters are annoying." Van grumbled as he shut his bedroom door. A few minutes later however, someone banged on it and Merle called out.

"Don't do anything naughty in there or I'll hear it!" She sung happily, trying to make Van's life miserable.

He turned back to find Hitomi sitting on his bed with a smug smile. "What?"

"So your family's just plain crazy then, right?" She asked as he moved to try and 'tidy' up.

"Just my siblings. Now that you've met them both, don't compare them to yours." He advised.

"Ah..." She said thoughtfully.

**xoxo**

"I can't believe this!" He said angrily to himself. The distressed look kept crossing his face as he thought about all the things that could happen.

Scratches. Broken. Lost. Stolen!

Dilandau kicked angrily at an incredibly small stone and paused in his walk, hands stuffed tightly into his pockets. Seeing as there was nothing left to fiddle with and making fists got him even more agitated, he tried to keep them still.

And he felt like a complete addict. Not that he missed the taste of tobacco. Just the feel of his lighter in his hands. And maybe just knowing he could have a smoke when he felt like it.

Which he couldn't do now that Celena had pickpocketed him again.

"Remind me to never fall for that one again." He said to himself.

**xoxo**

Eries blinked, looking up unsteadily. She wondered if maybe she _was_ a little drunk after all.

It didn't matter, that little store was just down the block anyway. And it was only about five, in a nice neighborhood, so nothing could go wrong.

"Hmm..." She paused, looking through the shelves for something. Glancing up, something caught her eyes abruptly before disappearing. "I know him from somewhere..."

Turning a corner after she exited with a small bag in hand, Eries yawned and spotted it again.

"Hey!" She called, jogging over slightly.

The blonde turned around and stared in confusion at the person before him.

"Don't I... know you from somewhere?" She asked, lapsing into thought.

Allen looked her over carefully, and although she was quite pretty he was reminded of someone else. He finally just shook his head no and started walking away, thinking maybe he should pay her a visit.

"Wait!" The girl called out again, making him stop and turn. "You were with my sister that day!" She said looking like she'd just had an epiphany.

He froze on the spot, not recognizing that she was a little drunk. "Uh... what..."

"Yeah..."

Allen stared, sweatdropping as she just turned around and began walking the other way without saying anything else. Eries just started humming something to herself, glad she'd figured that out before it bugged her all day.

**xoxo**

Inside the house Varie was working on dinner as Van sat at the kitchen table with his usual teenage atmosphere swirling.

"She was nice, Van. She should come over more so we can get to know her." His mother stated happily as she moved around.

He just grumbled something out and looked away. Now that Hitomi was indeed gone, he was still trying to sort through what was going on with him lately.

Noticing her son's behavior, Varie glanced over. "Don't you like spending time with her?" She asked lightly.

"Yeah." He answered carelessly. 'But then, sometimes I get so weird I feel like I wanna be around her and yet... I'm freaking out and don't wanna be anywhere near her.' He thought to himself.

Merle chose that moment to follow her nose and skipped into the kitchen. "Mm, what's up?" She greeted, plopping down in a chair across from Van. "What's the matter, Van? Got a crush on somebody?" She teased.

"Better watch out, Merle." Her mother advised. "When you get involved with a guy, he won't hesitate to torture you back."

The girl just laughed. "Yeah right. I'm not so easily embarrassed like someone..." She trailed off, turning to her brother and noticed his dumbstruck look. "What?" She asked blankly.

**xoxo**

After leaving the house with a friendly goodbye to Van's mother Hitomi began walking home by herself. Although Varie had insisted that Van walk her there, or at least to the bus stop, she said it was alright.

When she got home, she went through the normal routine things. Doing homework, heading for a shower, eating dinner, arguing with little brother over something insignificant.

Flipping on the power switch, Hitomi turned to the computer to find she had a new message.

And the five words on the page made her gasp loudly, causing her to choke on air, and accidentally make her chair roll over the sock still on her foot.

She jumped into bed after that, trying to get it out of her head.

**xoxo**

'I think... I...' Van thought to himself, punching each key determinedly. "Like you." He finished out loud.

**xoxo**

**Okay, I** know it feels like forever since I last updated. And even though this chapter turned out to be the longest I've written for this story it doesn't seem too interesting to me, right? Yeah, I know, seems like things are going pretty slow, right? Sorry about that. I feel like I have no idea what I'm doing.

But with Van's unexpected and quite thoughtless confession, what now? Actually I know how Hitomi's gonna react... I am the author after all. But other than that I'm not sure what to do with Celena and Dilly, or Allen and Millerna. Well maybe I know a little about what to do...

Okay, it doesn't quite matter now. I feel like the story's half done or something and I'm sure I'll figure it out later.

**As always, look to my profile to see when I might possibly be updating and such. Thanks for being impatient!**

**4-10-07**

**2:41am**


	21. Chapter 21

4-11-07

2:28pm

**xoxo**

**Title-Are you stalking me?!**

**Chapter 21**

**By-Moon Prynces**

**xoxo**

When Hitomi woke up the next day she'd completely written off, and thus forgot Van's not-so amusing confession from the previous day. She rolled out of bed feeling pretty chipper and normal. And heading to school she hardly gave anything much thought, save for the math assignment she'd barely managed to do.

She chose to wear one of the more daring outfits Millerna had coaxed her into buying. The denim skirt with a random t-shirt and a pair of flip-flops because the weather permitted. But while on the way to her destination, the looks she got made her feel even more awkward than when she first tried it on at the store, ages ago.

'Damnit. Maybe I should've called Millerna to wear something similar. At least then I wouldn't stick out like Dilandau's odd hair color.' She sighed, holding her bag tighter than necessary. 'Or maybe I should've just returned it without her knowing.'

A soft breeze blew by and she almost rethought this because the heat was starting to pick up and she already felt uncomfortable. Upon reaching the school gates she was surprised to find someone waving at her energetically.

"Hey!" Celena greeted, jogging up to her. "I'm surprised you got here on time."

Hitomi just shot her a confused look, adding a "Huh?" just for good measure.

"Well, in that outfit I'd say you were more likely to get held captive by flirtatious guys." She replied with a wink.

Hitomi made a desperate face that Celena just grinned at. "Right. I knew I shouldn't have."

The two began walking slowly onto the school grounds as Celena attempted to converse about trivial, light-hearted topics.

"What do you have first?" She asked, peering at the other girl.

"Uh..." Hitomi blinked, trying to regain her thought. "Um, well I know the way there... I just can't remember what we're _supposed_ to be learning."

As the conversation continued with Hitomi asking what class Celena had first, the latter soon realized something. She-had-a-problem. And this was brought to her attention when she wondered where that familiar sound was coming from... only to realize she was the one playing with Dilly's lighter.

Hitomi didn't seem to notice the odd look that passed over her face or that her hand was now stuck inside her jacket's pocket.

"You know, you look a little pale..." Hitomi said thoughtfully.

Celena tried to relax and willed her face to return to normal color. Then something hit her. "But I've always been pale." She said stupidly.

"Oh, right." The brunette responded, laughing nervously and scratching her chin.

They both paused in walking before the first building, laughing to themselves.

"Well, I'll see you later then." Hitomi announced, waving a hand as she walked away, trying to figure out if Celena woke up on the _right_ side of the bed or what.

The blonde on the other hand was still running her fingers over the object in her pocket, wondering what to do... before realizing she needed to head to class. Deciding she didn't like the weird feeling she got from the touch of his lighter, she pulled her hand out to pin up some of her hair on her way to first period.

**xoxo**

"Millerna! You'll be late for school!" Eries called up the stairs.

"She isn't up yet? Are you sure she isn't sick? Maybe I should go check on her, just in case." Arianna ranted worriedly.

"No, mom just go to work. We'll take care of her." The middle sister said, making her mom turn around and walking her back to the kitchen.

Marlene turned around from her place at the stove. "You aren't even done eating. She's right, we've got it under control."

Arianna looked at her children once before shaking her head and sitting down. Smiling to herself she started to say something. "Right, well I've got off work tomorrow so we can spend the day doing whatever you girls want."

"Oh that's right! You haven't seen all the pictures I brought with me!" Marlene said excitedly, clapping her hands together with a broad smile.

Eries grinned. "What about that one picture of you-" She cut herself off at the glare Marlene sent her. Still grinning she sat down and started eating as well.

"But really, it isn't like Millerna to sleep in late. She's usually up before I am in the morning." Arianna commented. Marlene shifted her weight to one foot and put a hand on her hip, looking a little thrown off as she stared at the eggs.

"It's probably nothing." Eries assured her, looking up at the clock. "Hey, you'll be late if you don't-"

"Okay, okay." Her mother said, abruptly getting up with a fork still in hand. Eries hurriedly helped her put on her jacket, grab her briefcase, checked her makeup and smoothed her hair back as they clambered over to the front door where Arianna shouted her goodbyes.

Walking back into the Kitchen, Eries watched as her older sister set down the last plate on the table and started putting things into the sink.

"Weren't you gonna go check on Millerna?" Marlene questioned.

Eries sat down heavily on a chair and blew her hair out of her eyes. "Actually, why don't you do it? I'm still tired since you kept me up all night gushing over how great it was to be home."

Marlene just sniffed indignantly, walking past on her way to the stairs. She headed up, wondering if the house grew since she last came home to visit because she was getting winded only halfway there.

'Then again the only exercise I used to get was with Chid running around and... having sex. I should go to a gym or something.' She thought, finally reaching the top. "Millerna!" She shouted. "Aren't you gonna get up for school?" She called, approaching the door.

Upon opening the door she was met with the sight of her baby sister wrapped tightly in her blanket like it was a cocoon and realized she was mumbling something in her still sleepy state.

"What was that?" She asked, moving closer. "You okay, kid?"

Millerna just shuffled, turning away from her sister. "I'm tired." She stated simply.

After a moment's pause, Marlene had made up her mind. "Okay, don't worry about it then. Just sleep in and I'll make you something to eat." She said, looking around the very neat room.

Eries looked up from reading something just as Marlene reentered the kitchen. "What happened? Where is she?" She asked after grabbing a piece of bacon and taking a bite.

Marlene sat down and started eating her own breakfast. "She's not going to school today."

"Why? Something wrong?"

She caught her sibling's eyes. "Just tired."

Pause. "Oh."

**xoxo**

Later on, Hitomi gracefully slid into her seat just before class began wishing she'd had time to go to lunch because hunger was taking its toll. Luckily she'd caught Dilandau earlier who informed her that Millerna wasn't in school on this fine day, from the gossip he'd overheard. This only happened after he whistled and jokingly threw her a cat call.

Hitomi tapped her foot on the floor lightly as she wondered how Millerna was spending her day. Unfortunately she didn't have the time to stop by for a visit otherwise she'd would've gone over to inquire about her absence.

'Maybe it had something to do with Allen.' She mused to herself, her face in a palm. 'Couldn't be though. She's probably just sick or something.'

Someone stuck out their foot behind her and kicked her chair, disrupting her thoughts. Hitomi glanced around to see Van grinning at her.

"I hope you stubbed a toe or something." She said snobbishly. At this point she'd totally forgotten anything from the night before. In fact, it was safe to say that her short term memory was somewhat lacking these days.

"Right, I'd just sue you for having your chair there in the first place." He replied stubbornly.

"That makes no sense." Hitomi shot back, noticing that class had begun. "And I can put my chair wherever I want to."

There was some silence as Hitomi turned back to face the board and attempted to copy down some notes, so she could pass the upcoming test. Her eyes glanced back once to see Van lounging around like he had nothing at all to do.

"Don't you plan on graduating high school? On time?" She asked him, turning back again.

"Of course." He responded with a blank look.

"Then how is that gonna happen if you can barely stay focused in one single class."

"How would you know if I stay focused in any class but this one? We only have one in common. What makes you think I slack off all the time?"

She shot him a deadpanned look. "How about the fact that you've never brought a book or pen or pencil with you once. Except for that magazine that one time."

"So? I can pay attention." He tried to argue back. "It's all in here." And with that he poked at the side of his head.

Hitomi just stared at him for a minute. Then a surprised look came over her face. "What's that?" She asked, pointing to the other side of his head.

"What?" His eyes moved to the side.

"I think it's a hole in your head. Maybe that's where all the information went after you 'paid attention'!" She said, cracking up at her joke.

Van just looked seriously offended at her comment and frowned to himself. "Ha-ha, very funny."

"I'd like to think so." She just replied back. A moment passed where neither said anything and just stared at each other uncomfortably. "Well..." Hitomi trailed off, slowly shifting till she was once again facing the teacher.

Van's eyes flickered around the room until they landed on something smooth and unprotected. "Are you wearing a skirt?" He asked suddenly, as a grin slowly began to form.

Hitomi jumped at his voice and looked over her shoulder. "Uh... yeah..." After catching his amused face she spat out, "What?"

"Why?" Was his simple reply.

She looked thoughtful for a second. "Because it's such a nice day and..." She trailed off as he smiled wider. "What?"

He shook his head, dark hair flying everywhere. "It's just... I didn't notice."

Once again, and with a puzzled look... "What?"

Van didn't answer, only smirked as his leg stretched out under his desk and Hitomi was startled again by his foot gently rubbing against her leg.

"Something wrong back there?" The teacher inquired, tilting his head to get a better look at the two.

"Just peachy." Van responded with a small grin.

Hitomi stayed silent with her head bowed. The teacher just nodded, assured and continue to read something out loud. Of course, this didn't mean there wasn't some kind of turmoil surfacing.

The brunette was trying to fight down this warm feeling that was rising up in her. 'Oh god, this must be how perverts feel all the time. Being turned on at something that means nothing.' She thought to herself. 'It's just hormones! Stop it!' She was shouting on the inside.

A slight shuffling sound and she realized his legs were still draped along the floor underneath her chair while he slouched in his seat. She immediately retracted her legs from the close distance to his own.

Ten minutes ticked by in silence as Hitomi immersed herself in the classwork and Van tried hard not to fall asleep. He spent a good amount of that time staring at the back of Hitomi's head before realizing she was right. He _did_ wanna graduate, right?

Van sighed to himself, sitting up straight in his chair and forcing himself to tune into the lesson.

The teacher glanced around after reading something from a book in his hand, waiting for some kind of response. He spotted someone with their hand up and turned back... and almost had a heart attack.

"Van?" He questioned. "Did you need a pass to go..." He stopped short when the boy just shook his head no. "You wanted to talk about the passage?" The teacher asked again.

"Yeah." Van responded carelessly. He rolled his eyes at the reaction. "I just wanted to say that..."

Hitomi's mind blanked out as he started rambling about something. Even more shocking was the teacher looking a little impressed by his method of thinking. But really, why would Van be... doing schoolwork... in school...

After Van finished, this provoked another random student to start speaking, expressing his own view on the matter. Van was already back to scratching eagerly at the top of his desk.

Hitomi glanced back slowly to catch his pensive face... as he tried to carve his name into the wood. She sweatdropped and shook her head.

"Hey, you got my message?" He suddenly wondered out loud for her to hear.

Her green eyes tore back around to stare at him. "Huh?" Was her expertly planned response.

Immediately, he got impatient and huffy. "From yesterday." He tried again.

Hitomi racked her brain trying to figure out what he was talking about. Along the way she wondered if she should start taking vitamins for her horrible memory. And then... it struck her. Looking back at him apprehensively, she tried not to flinch as she spoke. "Oh... uh, do you mean...?"

Van looked at her with his chin in his hand, giving a small nod.

Attempting to tread lightly on this strange topic, her eyes roamed the floor. "That... was you?" She questioned again.

He just made a 'hm' sound and waited.

She laughed lightly, trying to joke it off. "Oh well, I thought it might've been your sister or something..." She trailed off, looking up at his blank expression. "But now I see it wasn't." She covered up. "Um... I can't quite remember... what was it you said, again?" Hitomi finally asked, playing dumb. 'This should be the part where he bursts out saying it was a big joke and go ha ha.' She thought.

Van sat upright at her words. It didn't occur to him that he'd have to... say them out loud... to her face. He screwed up his own face at the thought he'd come across. It took a moment.

"I said..." He sighed. "I think I like you."

Hitomi stared at him, careful to make sure the teacher didn't turn in their direction at the moment. "Well, I like you too... You're not such a jerk and a fun person to be around." She agreed. "But I don't understand what you mean. Was that it?" She looked to him as if asking if she gave the correct answer.

Van stared again. "That's not... what I meant." He ended with a sigh.

When the bell rang, causing them both to jump out of their skins and everyone started to leave, he stood up.

'Maybe I shouldn't have said anything.' He thought, running a hand through his hair. 'Why don't I ever think before I say or do something?' Outwardly he put on a small smile. "Sorry, I gotta go. I'll talk to you later." Van said, before turning around and walking out of the room.

Hitomi stared after him, sighing to herself. 'Dodged a bullet there.'

**xoxo**

"What're you making?" She asked, leaning over the other's shoulder to get a look.

Marlene just swatted at her sister as if she were a fly. "Food. And it's for Millerna." She said firmly.

A moment of silence passed. "Are those pancakes?" Eries asked again, sniffing the air a bit.

"Hm..." She went, still mixing the batter skillfully.

"Chocolate chip?" She went again.

This time she didn't even get a response.

Eries finally just sighed and sat back down at the kitchen table. "Okay, we've already cleaned the kitchen and living room and she still isn't up. Maybe she is sick." And her voice took on a concerned undertone.

"No, she's just tired." Marlene said airily. "And don't worry, there's enough pancakes for-"

"Thank god." Eries sighed, interrupting her. She looked up to a clock on the wall. "We could've had an early lunch if there wasn't so much to clean. Now I'm starving."

Marlene smiled to herself, turning on the stove. Meanwhile Eries was starting to wonder if her younger sister's behavior had anything to do with the boy she'd caught her with a few days ago.

'Maybe he broke up with her or something. Maybe she had to leave him because of something.' Eries thought to herself. Horrified, her thoughts went on. 'What if they had sex and she's-'

"Do you wanna go see if she's ready to come down now?" Marlene questioned, disrupting her fantasy.

"Why don't we just take it up to her instead?" She suggested, trying to shake off the inappropriate thoughts.

About ten minutes later, the two blondes walked up the stairs with trays of pancakes and orange juice with the intent of waking up their sister and getting her to eat, and maybe even spill her guts to them.

When Marlene opened the door, Millerna was still in the same position as before, curled up tight in her blanket, almost at the edge of her bed. She didn't move when she heard the door open, or at the sound of shuffling.

"It's time to get up, princess." Eries stated in a no-nonsense voice with her hands on her hips, as Marlene looked up from putting her tray on the dresser.

"Shh!" She went, walking over to the bed where Eries stood. "That's not the way to do it."

The middle sister just sighed and rolled her eyes. "Fine. You get her up and I'll start eating." She stated, walking over to grab her plate and sit on the small bench at the end of the bed.

Millerna however, didn't need any insistence, and just sat up to rub her eyes.

"You okay, hun?" Marlene asked, crouching down slightly. "We've brought you food so you can just eat in bed if you want."

"Sure." Millerna agreed, jumping out of bed and heading for the bathroom to brush her teeth and try to fix her appearance. She came back a few minutes later with her hair tied up and a bandage around her forearm

Eries raised a brow and paused her fork. "What happened?"

Marlene was sitting on the bed, unable to eat until her saw that her sister was doing well. Now she stared in shock. "What'd you do?"

Millerna stared at them... "I got this last night. From trying to help you all cooking." Her sisters blinked in realization. "Yeah, you were all there, remember?" She narrowed her eyes at them. "Why would I want to... Nevermind. You said you had food?" And she tried to keep the excitement out of her voice at the prospect of something delicious to eat.

They both pointed simultaneously at the tray, Eries with her fork in a small motion and Marlene with a long finger.

"So what happened with you today?" Eries asked, plunging into the subject with less tact and the furrowing of her brows.

Taking a sip of orange juice, Millerna just shrugged after glancing back with her eyes. Then she took her plate of pancakes and joined her eldest sister on the bed, jumping and bouncing on it a bit as she made contact with it, and trying not to drop the food.

"Aren't you gonna eat too?" Eries asked, turning to the only person not with a plate and letting her elbows rest on the bed as she slouched on the fancy looking bench.

"I dunno. Not really hungry." Marlene said, falling back into the bed and landing on Millerna's pillow, causing the bed to bounce them both a little. She threw an arm across her eyes theatrically. "After all, I'm back to doing all the work for you three." Her sisters saw the grin she wore though.

"Right, and I'm sure you'd have it no other way." Millerna responded, rolling her eyes.

"Speaking of that... isn't there something you wanted to tell us?" Eries suddenly questioned, looking pointedly at her younger sister.

"That was the worst segue I've ever heard." Marlene laughed from her place on the bed, not even removing her arm from covering her eyes. But soon she sat up as well. "Yes! I heard Mom say she found a wonderful guy for you to marry! But I hardly got a chance to hear what happened! Have you met him yet? Is he dreamy? How old is he by the way?" She questioned excitedly.

Eries, in turn, put on a face of disgust. After all, she seemed to be the only one who disapproved of this type of arrangement, which was why she left so early after graduating to cultivate a career. It never meant she wasn't happy for her sisters and their decision to follow their mother's advice, just that she didn't see that path as appealing and found it slightly demeaning to her character. She just didn't see herself as the housewife type she thought they expected.

Millerna looked at the two as her fork made it's way to her mouth, taking the interrogation quite calmly. She closed her eyes briefly. 'Just breathe.' Then opened them and swallowed. "His name is Dryden Fassa. And he's only in college." She answered breezily, going for another bite and hoping to choke on it.

Marlene just clapped her hands, once again like a little child. "Aw, that's great! He's closer to your age that way! Only about what... three or four years older?"

A pair of eyes went rolling around again. "Right. That's just _wonderful._" Eries added sarcastically.

Marlene just ignored her. "What else did you find out?"

"Well..." Millerna let her eyes drift along the room with the fork in her mouth. She removed it before speaking again. "We had him over for dinner one night, like some kind of interview." At this, both her and Eries rolled their eyes.

"And?" Marlene's eyes were shining with stars and hearts as she leaned closer with her hands clasped.

"And he wasn't that bad looking actually. Really nice hair, and nice eyes too!" Millerna responded, thinking to herself in surprise. "It's weird that someone like that would settle for an arranged marriage."

Eries snorted. "He must be a pervert then. That or there's something seriously wrong with him."

Marlene just shushed her. "So...?"

Millerna put down the plate on the bed with the fork between her teeth. A long silence passed as she pretended to look around thoughtfully before putting the fork back on her plate. "I don't think I can marry him." She answered with a sigh.

As Marlene's face fell, Eries cheered in the background. "What? Why not? What's wrong?" The eldest one questioned. Eries stared between the two with keen eyes, quieting down quickly after the confession. Millerna just shrugged to herself, not sure what answer to give.

At this point, the middle sister started to grin slowly. "Is there... someone else then?" She asked, causing the other two to look up at her. Millerna looked horror struck, but Marlene started to grin as well.

"Is that it?" She asked again, turning back to Millerna. "Are you with someone right now?"

Millerna stared at the two, wanting to groan out loud, but sure that would give away something. "Uh..." 'Then again, Eries already knows. That traitor.' "Well there is something I wanted to... ask you. Both of you."

They both nodded, still staring her down.

"When did you guys first have sex?" She asked, trying to keep her voice even and looking the part of a confused, _innocent_ little girl.

"When dad left." Eries answered automatically, then got an elbow from her older sister with a frown. She shrugged. "So what? It was with that first boyfriend I had. Jake or Jay or Joshu- oh who cares? But I was..." She looked up in thought. "Sixteen then."

The attention then turned to Marlene who looked back blankly. "Uh..."

Eries started laughing. "Nice. Now is not the time to be shy, dearest sister. Especially when you _love_ sharing the other parts of your life with us."

For once in their lives, the two witnessed their older sister blush. "Well... you know... I got married when I graduated, right?" They nodded to her. "And that was when I was eighteen, right?" They looked at her impatiently. "And before that..."

Millerna sighed and blew her hair away from her face. Eries started looking at her nails disinterestedly.

"Okay, geez. I get it." Marlene stated grumpily. "Before that I hadn't done anything with a guy. I've never even had a boyfriend."

"You're kidding." Millerna jumped, disbelievingly. "You were always out and it looked like you kept hiding something. You've never had a boyfriend?" She asked with wide eyes.

Eries seemed to know that bit of information already. "But wait... never did anything? What exactly is 'anything'?"

"Uh... well, kissing or anything at all." She answered, looking embarrassed. "Yeah, I know I was popular and all that with too many friends to count but I didn't really find anyone worth it." She shrugged. "And I thought that agreeing to the arranged marriage would make mom happy so I didn't mind at all. Besides he wasn't a bad person and eventually things worked themselves out. I'm happy, he's happy, we've got a kid who's happy..." She trailed off at the pleased face Eries was making.

"So that means..." Millerna interrupted their happy moment. "Everything you did with Duke... was your first time?"

"Aw, a virgin until the honeymoon." Eries cooed mockingly, to which Marlene threw a pillow at her.

Marlene tried to shrug off how uncomfortable she felt. "Yeah. He didn't actually... know that, until that night after we got married. I guess he walked in thinking I knew the routine or something." The other two were once again enthralled by her story. "But then he realized I was afraid of the whole thing, even though I tried to look okay the entire time."

"Wha- The entire time?" Eries asked in disbelief.

"That's not what I meant. I mean before anything happened. So he just sat down on the bed in his striped boxers." At this Marlene had an amused smile as she recalled. "Nothing but striped boxers and said it didn't matter. And he started a conversation instead, since I really didn't know him that well until then and he was only two years older."

Millerna stared, wondering why it always seemed her sisters had things better. 'I suppose I won't ever find a guy like that.' She thought.

Eries smiled. "That's pretty sweet of him. I didn't know Duke was like _that_ in bed."

"Right. Not that you were wondering, huh?" Marlene tease back.

"Of course. Isn't there more to the story than that?" She asked back.

Marlene pulled a face. "Geez. Okay, well since I was so wrapped up in doing what I thought was right, I insisted we go ahead anyway even though by then it was two or three in the morning. He kind of just looked at me like I was crazy and said we should get some sleep. And when he turned away and expected me to do the same I started kissing him, his neck and shoulder." And then she shrugged in the middle of her story. "I'm not sure if I got him turned on just with that because he_ did_ seem to be enjoying it, although I wasn't too sure what I was doing. And so we had sex and that was that." She ended.

"Bad? Good? Mediocre?" Eries questioned.

The oldest sister just looked up in thought. "Well since he wasn't as inexperienced as I was, he knew what he was doing. So surprisingly, it was great."

There was a long silence that stretched out as the three all thought on their respective situations. Finally a heavy sigh from Marlene and someone broke the silence.

"Wow. Compared to your story, Eries' was crap." Millerna said, looking at them both.

Eries just rolled her eyes for the umpteenth time. "Whatever. But why is there a sudden interest in this topic?" She turned to Millerna with devious eyes.

"Oh! Is that what you're worried about when you get married?" Marlene gushed, completely forgetting something. "I mean, I don't know this Dryden guy and maybe he won't be as understanding but I doubt mom would find a guy that would force you into anything. It's nothing to be scared of." She said, waving a hand dismissively.

The middle sister just reached over and smacked Marlene with the same pillow that had been thrown her way. "Didn't she say there was another guy?"

Marlene tried to fix her hair after the attack. "Oh right. Who is it?"

"I didn't say anything about another guy!" Millerna cried out in protest.

**xoxo**

"Allen's not home?" He asked, walking past the blonde and taking a seat on the couch.

"No, but come right in, Van." She stated with heavy sarcasm.

He was already flipping channels on the TV. Celena sighed and shut the front door, walking back to her own seat.

"And what brings you over on a day like this?" She questioned, watching his impassive face. "Ready for another heart to heart?" She asked cheerfully.

"I just wanted to talk to Allen about something." He stated, not giving anything away and only letting his eyes dart over to her for a second.

"Worst. Idea. Ever." She said in a fake voice, that eventually made him smile a little. "Oh yeah, maybe you could help me with something while you're here."

Van turned to stare at her unsurely. "Me? Help with what?"

"Okay, fine. Really I just need someone to complain to." Celena went on to correct herself. Van looked up in hopelessness.

"Do I look like a girl?" He asked back.

She tilted her head. "Well with the right haircut..."

"Shut up."

"Okay!" She said, taking this as confirmation to start. Celena leaned forward with her elbows on her knees and face in her hands. "Dilandau's acting strange lately."

Van stared at her longer. "Since when do you talk to Dilandau again?"

She waved this off. "And... maybe it's cuz I act really weird too but it's like he wants to tell me something or..."

"Actually, I haven't talked to him lately." He answered, looking around as if nothing interesting were happening.

Celena finally leaned back into the sofa and sighed. "I think I like him." She confessed.

Now Van was back to staring at her. A very long pause went on where neither of them said anything and Celena was beginning to wonder why she chose _Van_ of all people to be her outlet. She rolled her eyes.

"That's funny." He said in an eerily quiet voice, looking away. "I said the same thing."

"You like Dilandau?" She asked, sitting up with a truly confused look. Then grinned and held out a hand. "High five! We like the same guy and I probably have a better chance now!"

Van glared at her. "Ha-ha. I think you need a new hobby."

"So then who is it that you like?" She asked innocently, although she already knew who it had to be.

"Hitomi." He said blankly. "And I told her. Yesterday. Well really it was just a message online."

Celena raised a brow. "And what exactly did you say?"

"'I think I like you.'" He repeated. "And then I tried to bring it up today in class and she just tried to play it off as a joke."

"No wonder. What were you thinking, saying it like that?" Celena questioned. "I mean, maybe I'm not the person you should take advice from but... that just sounded dumb." She ended with a frown.

"Yeah okay, that made perfect sense." Van rolled his eyes. "I was just saying what came to mind and I was wondering how she'd react. I guess I didn't think it over too much before just telling her." He shrugged as if he didn't care.

"So you just went and told her without thinking about all the things she could possibly say back?" She questioned, horrified.

"I'm not a girl." He grumbled. Something hit the side of his head and he realized she'd thrown it. "Well what about you? Have you told Dilandau anything?"

"No, I think he's teetering on the edge of sanity and I don't think it'd help him." She sniffed indignantly.

"Hey, at least I had to courage to admit it to her. Not once, but twice!"

"That's not courage! That's stupidity! It's like rushing into battle without a plan!" She argued back with a glare of her own.

Van didn't answer, gritting his teeth. Then they both dropped it and sighed out loud. "What do we do now?" He questioned.

"Well for you, apparently Hitomi doesn't feel that way for you. Maybe you should back off and leave her alone." Celena suggested, looking at him carefully.

"Why should I back down? If I really like her, shouldn't I try to convince her of that and to give me a chance?" He said back, looking furious.

"Well you'd just make it worse trying to scare her into anything! And really, do you even know what you want out of it?" She looked at him slyly. "No wonder you wanted Allen's help. You've never done this before, have you?"

He frowned and looked very displeased. "Never liked a girl like this before." He admitted.

"Aw! That's so cute!" She jumped over to pounce on him in a hug. "You're growing up!" She continued to smile and coo at his embarrassed state.

"Okay, okay!" He said impatiently as she ruffled his hair for good measure. She got off to sit next to him. "What about you and Dilandau?"

She slowly pulled out something from a pocket and held it up sheepishly. "I stole his lighter." Van looked on in disbelief. "And the pack of cigarettes he had, but I threw those out." She wrinkled her nose.

"And this is going to help you how?" Now it was his turn to raise a brow.

She pulled back and held the object protectively. "I didn't say that. I just hated that he started smoking so I stole them."

"And I'm the idiot here?" He looked at her with a deadpanned expression.

"Do I even need to answer?" She asked back with a 'duh' look. "So... do you really like her then?" Celena asked quietly, staring at the lighter in her hands.

Van looked at her strangely. "I thought we already established that. I said, yes I do."

She looked back at him. "Yeah, but with your way, you hardly thought it through. I mean, how'd you come to this conclusion anyway?"

He leaned back against the sofa and stared at the ceiling. "Um... because when I was with her I got this strange feeling." Van closed her eyes, trying to relax. "Like something in my stomach kept floating up and up and just made me want to smile. And at the same time I kept getting nervous and self-conscious around her."

He opened his eyes and glanced over when he felt Celena move to put her head on his shoulder. "That's so cute." She said softly, smiling happily. "I hope she comes around soon, you're too sweet to pass up!" She looked at him cheerfully again.

"What about Dilandau?" Van asked, furrowing his brows and snaked an arm around the girls shoulders.

"You know Allen told me not to talk to him?" The two stared at the two, sitting in that comfortable position.

"Wow, the perfect big brother." He laughed. "I've hardly talked to him lately too. Now that's pathetic." Van paused, smiling to himself. "So, do you think you're gonna tell him?"

"Allen? No way. He'd chain me to my bed." Celena joked it off. At the look Van was giving her she tried to be serious. "No, I don't think so. Because I don't know why I should. What do I want from him? Nothing really. And what would he say to me? That I'm just that girl he likes to joke around with and he doesn't take me seriously."

"What a positive attitude, you've got." He commented. Celena ignored him and snuggled in closer, managing to grab the remote from him to flip channels. He laughed at her childish appearance. "You remind me of Merle."

To this she just stuck out a tongue.

**xoxo**

"Baby sister! What's going on?" Marlene sang out. When Millerna didn't answer, Eries sighed.

"Okay fine. I'll just bring it up myself." She turned pointedly to Marlene. "I caught a glimpse of her in a... compromising position with some guy." Marlene's eyes were bugging out. "In mom's room! Talk about strange places to get in the mood." Eries mumbled.

Millerna stared in horror as both her sisters fixed her with expectant faces. "I'm not- That was- Just a fluke!" She responded. "It wasn't anything."

Marlene looked at her suspiciously before turning back to Eries. "Was he good looking or what? Give me a description."

Eyes twinkling mischeivously, she answered. "Well I didn't get a good look with them all over each other, but he did look the part of a handsome, dashing knight, right princess?" Eries teased, grinning over at her sister. "Long blonde hair though... which is kinda weird." She went on, making a face.

"Long hair?" Marlene asked, suddenly grabbing and twisting her own mane. "You sure have weird taste, kid." She commented thoughtfully.

"He's a nobody." Millerna broke in their fantasies with a fierce expression. "So don't start picturing my wedding or anything just yet because _that's _not gonna happen."

"So he's not the reason for you ending the arrangement with Dryden?" Marlene asked, looking back to her sister.

"What's his name?" Eries asked, suddenly recalling something through her hazy thoughts. She vaguely had the outline of a perfect face with long blonde hair in her mind's eye, and then it hit her that she bumped into somebody on her way to the store the other day, while in her inebriated state.

Millerna remained stubborn, although slightly fearful on the inside. "It doesn't matter what his name is, _he_ doesn't matter at all."

"Sounds like denial to me." Eries said airily, turning around to lie on her back, her feet still hanging off the bench.

"You've hardly given us any details about yourself, Eries. Are you trying to hide something?" Marlene asked, looking at her sister with amusement. Millerna just sighed gratefully.

She just shrugged it off. "There's nothing to tell. Socially, my life's pretty barren. And I don't mind."

"What a bore." Marlene said, rolling her eyes.

"Wait!" Eries said suddenly with wide eyes. She turned to look at one of them. "Millerna, you haven't had sex yet, have you?"

Millerna stared. "Um, no." Then she couldn't help but crack a smile. They all managed to escape their own torture from being questioned by their sisters as the doorbell rang, causing them to jump up at the noise.

"I'll go see who it is." Eries said, getting up with her normal business like attitude.

"Millerna, help me bring this stuff downstairs, will you?" Marlene asked, also getting up, followed by her baby sister.

As two of them walked down and passed the front door, it opened and Eries commenced in her greeting. Millerna looked up from placing the empty plates in the sink when her name was called.

"What is it?" She asked, walking to where Eries stood, blocking the view of someone.

"A classmate of yours is here." Eries stated, and then left the two to be alone, heading to the kitchen.

"Uh..." Millerna watched her sister depart, wondering if it was Hitomi or Dilandau. But she turned back to see a person she didn't quite expect.

"Hi Millerna!" The girl said cheerfully with a wide smile, waving slightly. She had really short, dark brown hair and was wearing a pair of jeans and t-shirt.

Millerna vaguely recognized her as someone from class and walked closer. "Hi... Aiko. What brings you here?"

She held out something in her arms. "I'm just bringing over your assignments from class today. It was pretty surprising that you were absent. Are you feeling okay?" She questioned with a concerned look.

The blonde remembered her appearance, and even though she didn't look up to par, she had an excuse. "Oh yes. I was in bed all day. I'm better now though."

"That's great to hear! Will you be in school tomorrow?" Aiko asked again, handing over the few pieces of paper.

"Of course." Millerna answered with a smile, hoping she'd leave soon.

The girl however, didn't seem to realize her intrusion. "I guess you don't really mind not getting a perfect attendance record anymore then, huh?" She went.

Millerna shrugged. "Mm." Was her answer, trying not to get distracted. What she didn't realize was that Eries was peering around the corner and listening in on the two, and chose this moment to end their awkward silence.

"Millerna! I need you to help me with something!" She called, walking into view. "I'm sorry to interrupt your conversation."

Aiko just shook her head. "It's okay. I'll see you in school tomorrow, Millerna." She said brightly, turning to walk away. Millerna closed the door with a sigh.

"Perfect attendance? What _have_ you been doing? I used to cut school every other day." Eries said, folding her arms. "Haven't we taught you anything?" She asked, lifting a hand to her head. "How are you doing in school?" She asked suspiciously with a look.

Another heavy sigh as she brushed past. "Absolutely perfect." Millerna answered, and meaning it.

**xoxo**

"What's that sound?"

"The nuts and bolts in your head rolling around?"

Van looked at her pointedly. "No really, I hear something."

That was said just before the doorbell rang. The two glanced at each other and got up from their comfortable position on the couch to see who it was. Celena threw open the front door recklessly.

She looked up and into the eyes of an irate Dilandau. "Uh... can I help you?" Was her response. Van was just about to peer over her shoulder when he heard the voice.

"What do you mean? You have my lighter! And cigarettes!" He accused, although he wasn't standing anywhere near the door but on the pathway leading to the door. Apparently he felt they needed the distance...

She wrinkled her nose again and made a face that caught Dilly by surprise. "I threw those away."

His shock was replaced with another. "You WHAT?"

"Not that. The pack. I still have your lighter." Celena stated, leaning on the door. "Wanna come in? Or did you just drop by for what you wanted?" Van noticed something strange about her voice.

Dilandau rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. "I don't think _Allen_ would be pleased."

Van started cracking up and tried to keep his presence hidden as they continued.

"Oh? And since when does Dilly _listen_ to other people? I thought you were more of a rebel than that." She went on, obviously trying to provoke him.

He just glared. "Well I just know when to pick my battles, that's all."

Celena rolled her eyes, realizing he wouldn't start an argument. She almost turned to grab the lighter off the table but stopped. And decided to get some answers. Or at least have some fun with it.

She stepped out of the doorway and stared at him hard. "Is there something you wanted to tell me?"

Dilandau looked surprised once again. "Why?"

"You came all the way here for a lighter? Come on! And you seemed like there was something you were waiting to tell me the past few days." She looked exasperatedly back at the doorway where Van was on the floor, out of view.

"Of course I came here for the lighter!" He shot back.

Van sniggered even more. "I'd believe him." He conceeded, just for her to hear.

Celena accidentally let out a grin, but when she caught Dilly's serious look, changed it back into a frown. "Yeah okay. But you could've just waited until tomorrow or something. I thought you didn't even care much for smoking." She stated, still frowning, and folded her arms.

"It's the lighter." Van mumbled with a mock sigh, once again only for her to hear.

"I love that lighter." Dilandau stated firmly, causing Van to start sputtering with laughter again. Luckily the TV was still on and was the only thing blocking his noise.

Just as well, Celena felt her lips twitch upward. "Okay, whatever you say." She said with an exagerrated shrug and snatched up the lighter before heading outside.

Sauntering over to him in an enticing manner, she stopped just short of his presence and leaned upwards to plant a quick, friendly kiss on his lips. Then she threw the lighter in the air and stepped away fast enough so that he barely caught it.

Dilandau looked up from his daze of the strange event to see Van with his arms folded and leaning against the doorway, laughing his head off. He waited till they both entered the house after a good laugh, staring at her evil expression before beginning to walking away.

"Maybe not quite like Merle." Van mumbled, still wearing a grin as they shut the door.

**xoxo**

As Eries pretended to help Marlene prepare dinner before their mother got home, she was wondering about the youngest daughter, who was currently taking a shower. Because really, come to think of it... she hardly knew anything about her little sister, her dreams and aspirations, what she wanted out of life and her future.

Sure they knew all the trivial things you can only know from living with someone for so long, but other than that, neither her or Marlene knew what went on in that girl's head.

"Hey!" Marlene said, waking her up and making her jump. "What're you dong?" She asked, pushing Eries out of the way and stood over the stove. Marlene sighed. "We don't need you getting airheaded and hurting yourself like Millerna."

Eries just shook her head and sat down. "Yeah well, you shouldn't have trusted me to do any cooking anyway. How complicated are these dishes? It's not a dinner party!" She said with a groan. "And it looks like it'll take forever."

"Then maybe you should open your eyes because you almost burned this!" Marlene argued back, tapped the big spoon on the rim of the pot.

A few minutes later, while they were arguing over the better tasting ketchup brand, Millerna wandered her way into the kitchen in a pair of shorts and sleeveless shirt, with her hair still wet. They looked up briefly, wondering whether to involve her in the battle.

"Is something burning?" Millerna observed, before Marlene shrieked in surprise and started blaming random things on Eries as she stood over another pot on the stove.

"Mhmm." Eries commented with her face in a palm. Suddenly turning to the youngest sibling, she perked up. "So, anything else you wanted to tell us?"

Millerna just raised an eyebrow and took the seat across from Eries. "Not really." In the background Marlene was moaning over her meal.

"So you're gonna graduate next year right? Where you going to college? If you're going that is..." Eries said again, letting her thoughts hang.

"I don't know. I haven't given it enough thought to say anything." Millerna shrugged again, this time with suspicion. "Why are you asking?"

"You know, just wondering..." She said, looking away as if she weren't so interested.

"What're you guys talking about?" Marlene asked over her shoulder.

Millerna shouted 'Nothing!' the same time Eries said 'Millerna's future!' and then they glared at each other. Marlene tapped her head with the spoon... and soon realized she'd need to wash her hair.

"Ah... great." She groaned.

Trying to escape the soon-to-be full blown interrogation, Millerna got up. "I think I'm gonna go... find something to do." She ended in a mumble, quickly retreating down the hall and out the front door, in her lazy, around the house clothes and wet hair.

**xoxo**

Allen had decided... that he was bored. And needed a distraction, which would most likely just create a problem. Well, it didn't matter because he knew what he wanted and he was on his way there. Almost. Right in front of her house.

When someone pulled open the door abruptly and threw themself outside, then closed the door and leaned back against it. Millerna sighed and slouched slightly in her stance, until she looked up to see someone a few feet in front of her.

'Oh shit.' Was all she could think, biting her lip and deciding to regain her balance. 'Should I just... go back and feed myself to the tigers... oh what the hell! They're _all_ tigers!' She thought with knotted brows.

Allen started smirking, about to open his mouth with some smart ass comment about her not being able to resist him or something but paused to take in her not-so-carefully planned outfit. Just at that he started laughing.

"Miss Aston, isn't that outfit a little inappropriate for such a place?" He questioned with a grin.

"Shut up. I didn't think I'd be leaving the house at all!" Millerna shot back angrily. "Is there something you're here for?" She asked, folding her arms and staring him down.

He grinned wide, about to make a proposition when something else caught his eyes. The grin faded and he slowly walked up to her, pretendng to be casual and trying not to jump her, because he was slightly hormonal. "What happened?" He asked breezily, giving her a glance with a serious expression before turning away as if it didn't really matter at all.

Millerna's arms loosened as she looked down to what he was talking about. "Uh..." She held one arm higher than the other, looking at it blankly. "Nothing." She stared at him under her eyelashes, wondering where he was trying to go with this topic. She let out a gaspy sounding 'hey-!' just as he grabbed her arm to look at it closely.

"If I didn't know any better I'd think you were running away from something." He observed.

Millerna glared up at him now. "Well it's good that you don't know _anything at all_ then."

Allen dropped her arm just as unexpectedly as he'd grabbed it. "Well I can't spend time with someone who's suicidal, so how about you just forget about something ridiculous like that."

She stared a moment before slowly starting to grin. "Why's that? Because you're afraid you'll start to like the person and if they do ever... run away you'll be _heartbroken_?" She ended with a fake gasp, moving her hand to her mouth.

He completely ignored her ploy and looked up at the house. "Anyone home?"

Millerna was once again glaring. "You sure like to move fast, huh?"

"What are you talking about?" Allen grinned roguishly. "I'm here to work on the project."

"Mhmm." She observed. "With nothing but your hands, huh?"

"My hands," He said, placing them on her waist and pushing her back into the door. "Work great for a lot of things."

Abruptly, the two found themselves entangled and on the floor. And above them, a voice was going, "Millerna?" in confusion.

It took a second for the said girl to realize the door had been opened, which was why they were now in this... _union_. Allen rubbed his head, lifting himself off her slightly so she could sit up.

"Mom'll be home... soon..." Marlene stated, her voice fading away as she stared at the two.

"Another time, I guess." Allen said, jumping to his feet and turning to go. Millerna was too frazzled, having the wind knocked out of her and with her body aching, to really take notice. He did however glance back at the last second, then turned, and hoisted her up into standing, to lean on him and the doorway.

"I'm Millerna's sister, Marlene." She introduced, holding a hand out to also support her sister and for him to shake.

"Allen." He said shortly with a stiff disposition.

"I think I need ice." Millerna interrupted, her eyes squeezed shut tight and bending over in pain.

"Yeah well... with those clothes, just be glad you didn't fall on concrete." Eries said, her arms folded as she stood by the stairs.

"I wouldn't have fell if the door hadn't been opened!" Millerna argued, trying to stand up straight as Allen's hand left her side. Eries and Millerna turned to stare at their older sister.

"I'll... get you that ice!" Marlene said with tight laughter and turned to walk toward the kitchen.

"And I'm Eries." She said, suddenly walking forward with an intense gaze.

"Uh..." Millerna let out, looking back and forth between the two. She straightened up, trying not to wince. "Allen's gotta be going anyway." And then she practically shoved him out the door, not that he wasn't grateful. He did manage to turn his head to the side in a glance and waved a hand over his head as he walked away.

Millerna shut the front door tiredly and began limping her way to the kitchen while Eries followed.

"He _was_ good looking."

Millerna and Eries looked up as they reached the kitchen, and Marlene just smiled cheerfully as she handed over the ice.

**xoxo**

"Remember when my life wasn't so complicated?" She asked, head in her hands and glanced at him.

"No." He responded grumpily, his head resting on the desk sideways. "But I do remember your fantastic performance of smacking into trees." He snickered.

"I can't throw anything at you when you're near my computer." Hitomi stated in a tired voice. "Idiot." She managed to mumble.

Dilandau only spun around in the chair and joined her on the bed where they laid, staring up blankly at the ceiling. Hitomi made a move to roll over onto her side but Dilly stopped her.

"Hey! Stay on your side of the bed!"

Sitting up abruptly, she glared playfully. "This is my bed!" He just raised a brow at her with his hands behind his head. "The whole thing!"

He then rolled his eyes away before finding himself being rolled off the bed completely. "Ow. I really have to wonder why Van likes you at all." Dilandau responded after lifting his head up to be seen.

"I could say the same about Celena and you." She shot back.

"Well at least I kissed her already!" He tried, looking triumphant.

Hitomi just rolled her eyes this time. "So? I don't plan on kissing Van ever. And this isn't a contest!" She ended, smacking him lightly with a pillow.

He just got up, brushing himself off indignantly. "Tch. Jealous." The teen muttered. Turning around, he found it was a mistake.

"What'd you say?" Hitomi asked in an eerily calm voice.

"I said... uh..." His eyes darted around, but he couldn't think of a word that rhymed with 'jealous'. "I said blemish!"

Hitomi paused, thinking this over herself... before she burst out laughing. Afterward she would still be muttering 'blemish' under her breath and shaking her head. So would Dilandau, but his thoughts would be along the lines of 'What the hell was I thinking? Blemish?'.

**xoxo**

The front door opened slowly and the blonde walked in cautiously. Until he saw his sister and best friend sitting on the couch watching TV like best buddies.

"Are you stealing my best friend?" He asked suspiciously as they looked up.

Van just grinned back. "Too late dude, she's _way_ cooler than you are."

Allen just walked over to sit on another couch. "Oh so that's how it's gonna be? Fine! We're _so_ over!" He replied, folding his arms and turning away snobbishly.

"No dude!" Van jumped up from the sofa. "I broke up with you first!"

Celena stared between the two with confusion and mild interest.

"And I want back all my things you borrowed!" Allen went on selfishly.

"Oh yeah! Well I want back all of _my _things then!" Van shot back, folding his own arms as well.

Allen blinked, looking at him. "I don't have any of your things! Because all you do is steal my stuff and then hide it all away in your room! I hardly come over to your place!"

"And now you're never gonna come over again!" Van shouted stupidly.

Celena started cracking up in the middle of their 'argument'. "Wonderful guys. Now hug and make up."

They looked at her, trying to keep in character. Slowly they moved towards each other and stared... before sharing a hug. Van pretended to start crying with fake sobs.

"Good. Now all Van has to do is grab Allen's butt and-"

The two threw themselves apart and glared at Celena and her silly expression. She just shrugged in her defense.

As they ended the joke with some laughs and grins, the three settled back to watch some more TV. And Allen and Van both heard when Celena muttered, "You know you wanted to..." as they flipped channels.

**xoxo**

**WOO!!** I got all this done in about a week!!! In fact, about a week since I finished and posted the last chapter!! I'm so happy!!!

If anyone was checking my profile the past week you would've seen me updating it with my word count almost every few hours. Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed the mischief and such. And you must be glad with the length of this chapter, right? I think I managed to get a lot done, along with keeping up with humor and some romance. Juicy, right?

As disappointed as I was with the lack of... well, appraisal and such from the last chapter, it's okay. Reviews for my stories don't run my life. I'm already just too ecstatic over what I've accomplished! Didn't I once say that most of all I write for me? Well it still holds true. For me. For my own entertainment and pleasure.

But anyway, hope you enjoyed and hopefully the next chapter won't be too far away either! As always, check my profile for when I might update and such!!

**4-17-07**

**11:34pm**

Reread, edited, mistakes fixed. I'm so ready to update!!

Random thought: What would you guys think of me pairing up Eries and Folken somewhere down the line? I know it doesn't seem to have any merit as an idea, right? And I hope you Allen haters realize what a great character he is!! Although he is kinda static-y... hm...

Also, if you do happen to review and notice some inconsistencies or things that seem off or don't fit well, tell me so I can try to correct myself! That's the way to learn and all! And for those of you who didn't know what the word 'inconsistencies' meant, I hope you looked it up and learned something!!

MUAH! KISSES!

**4-18-07**

**4:23PM**

**UPDATE: It's currently 6:34pm, of the same day. And apparently is having some kind of problem with emails and crap. Geez... so since I haven't received an email notifying me of my update, no one else must've either. That and I kept checking back to see how the hits were doing to find I'd gotten some reviews which I didn't know about till then. Anyway, this sucks.**


	22. Chapter 22

7-6-07

12:30am

**xoxo**

**Title-Are you stalking me?!**

**Chapter 22**

**By-Moon Prynces**

**xoxo**

"So how was your..." Hitomi trailed off as she saw the blonde wince awfully noticeably while trying to sit down. "What were _you_ up to yesterday?" She asked, changing the topic with a raised brow.

"I fell, okay?" Millerna returned with a harsh look and defensive gesture.

"No need to lie about abusive relationships, you know." Dilandau brought up with a grin. Hitomi laughed to herself as well.

"And I'm sure you'd know all about them as well. What with the girls, _and guys_ you like." The blonde shot back with a smug look.

Dilly gave a fake boo-hoo and the conversation moved on from there. The three had chosen to sit around a table outside of the school for lunch this time, especially since it wasn't so crowded and the weather was nice.

"...most perverted person I know." She complained. "And my sisters are now delusional just because he's pretty good-looking and all that."

Hitomi glanced up after taking a bite from her sandwich and shot Dilandau a look, who only shrugged. Trying to chew and swallow quickly, she commented, "Yeah, but he must be fun to be around then, right?"

"Sounds like somebody has a crush." Dilandau sneered, stealing a french fry.

Millerna just threw up her hands theatrically. "Oh great!"

**xoxo**

"You know, when you stalk someone, you normally _don't _wanna be seen." She remarked, pausing in her venture to get to next class.

Dark hair was tousled by an anxious teenager. "I wasn't stalking." He argued. "I was just..." His eyes searched the ground. "Following."

Hitomi rolled her eyes. "Oh. That's even better!" She said with mock enthusiasm. "Is there a reason for this?"

"Well, my class is in this direction." He started off, trying to sound indignant.

"And what direction would that be?" She countered.

Van dodged the question and put on his own annoyed face. "Are you avoiding me or something?"

The brunette tossed her head carelessly. "Why would I need to avoid you? And don't you think we should wrap up this little chat before we're both late!" She said, glancing at a clock on the nearest building.

"You're like five minutes early you freak!" He complained with an astonished face.

"I'm not a freak." Hitomi replied, laughing all the same at his immature behavior.

Van stared at her a moment longer than necessary as she cracked up at his unintentional humor. She finally paused to look up at her friend and wondered what the silence was about, only to find him looking at her blankly.

"What now?" She asked nonchalantly.

The boy started walking slowly, causing Hitomi to keep up with him, side by side, as she was led to a more secluded area.

"What happened the other day?" He asked quietly, seriously.

Hitomi blinked. 'Oh, right... _that_.' She thought desolately.

"Is it that you don't believe me or something?" He kept going. "I know I didn't really think before opening my big mouth, but I still meant it."

Her green eyes stared at him, before her face crumpled up in frustration. "_What_ did you mean? The indecisiveness when you said 'I think'? Or that you _think_ you and I should become a happy couple and run off into the sunset? You're right, you don't _think_."

Van then looked up from where he had been staring at the floor. "I guess I just bring out the bitch in you. What's up with you? It's not like I'm threatening your life or something! Saying I have a crush on you is hard enough you know."

Hitomi tried not to let the guilt take over, to no avail. It looked like she wanted to cry. "I'm sorry!" She shouted, throwing herself on him a hug. A friendly hug meant for a friend.

The dark-haired boy just sighed, not moving to hug back and waiting for her to let go. When she did pull back he stared at her hard. "Just... forget I said anything then." He replied, pulling away fully from her embrace. He started to walk away, and then turned around again. "I mean, what am I supposed to do then?" Van asked, throwing his arms out. "You're gonna pretend I never admitted this and I'm just gonna have to go with it?"

She barely recognized herself give a half nod as she stared at him yelling.

Van was starting to get mad. "Hey! I just said I like you, okay! There's no need to jump out a window or something."

"I never mentioned a window..." She mumbled, still wrought with guilt.

"But..." He retracted his posture, trying to not look like he was gonna jump her. "I guess it's not like I can force you to do anything. Even if we are friends."

"Yea, friends." Hitomi mumbled again, unsure of what else to say.

Van sighed and turned to leave without a word.

**xoxo**

Millerna walked down the halls, not quite paying attention to her surroundings and staring at a small slip of paper in her hand, while holding her books with the other.

'Room 317? I don't think I've ever been there.' She thought to herself, glancing up to make sure she was headed in the right direction. She put down the paper and kept up her search until finally stopping in front of a door with the number 317 above the doorway.

"What?! Are you kidding me?!" She shouted to herself, staring at the door. She caught the glimpse of a few classmates, male classmates, passing by as they looked at her strangely. She gave a small wave and tried to smile as she inched away from the door.

But before she could complete the task, a hand shot out and she was pulled into the doorway with a shriek. After her books fell on the floor and Millerna shut her eyes, refusing to open them at all in the room, she heard a chuckle.

Without opening her eyes, she made a face and quickly became irate. "What do you want?" Millerna asked angrily.

Allen bent down, still glancing at her face, and proceeded to pick up her fallen books. "You know you can open your eyes. It's basically the same thing."

"No. It's not!" She insisted. "It's the boy's bathroom for crying out loud!" Her expression would've been intensified if she'd only open her eyes.

He just laughed at her some more and put the books on the counter. Then he watched as she tried to feel around for the door. "More to the right." He offered. Then winced. "The other right."

Millerna rubbed her face from where she obviously hit a wall. "You slipped this into my locker for what?" She asked, surprisingly with the paper still in her grasp.

"Look, I promise the boy's bathroom is just as clean as the girls and no, there are no urinals in a public school bathroom, they probably cost too much. So just open your eyes already." Allen said with a grin and walked over to grab her arms and give a light shake.

Slowly, one at a time, she opened her eyes and sighed. "Okay. What was it you wa-" Millerna was shocked to have been cut off by Allen descending his face onto hers and started acting like the indecent guy she knew him to be. Of course she didn't mind at first.

After a few minutes of that though she was getting really confused. Yeah she basically had a free period because of that substitute, but then how did Allen know that? Did he plan this whole thing?

Millerna finally pushed herself off him. "Right, don't you have a class now?" She questioned, wiping around her mouth.

He shrugged. "Nothing too important." Then he moved forward to resume their earlier task.

She also stepped back, making him look at her strangely. "So this is what you wanted to do yesterday at my house? Nice. I think you need to keep those hormones in check, mister." Millerna said with a grin of her own.

"Oh great. You think you've got some control by trying to hold out on me?" He asked after a groan.

"Holding out on you what? I didn't agree to come here and suck face with you. I didn't even know you would be here." She argued.

"So now you're saying you don't _want_ to do anything of the sort with me?" Allen asked back with a smirk.

There was a pause in which Millerna searched the floor tiles deeply for a moment. Then she looked up and said, "Yes." Allen stared. "That's exactly what I'm saying. We're done with all this. And the only time I should be seeing you is in the hallway, in class and when we _work _on our project together. No more extra activities."

Allen stared in shock as the girl grabbed her books and walked swiftly out the bathroom doors.

Millerna on the other hand was fighting down the warm feeling inside her that had wanted to continue their 'activities' and ignored the look she got from a few students standing just a few feet away from the door.

**xoxo**

Dilandau once again found himself in a compromising position. Between a wall and a brunette. In the boy's locker room during her gym period, so she was dressed in the customary shorts and t-shirt with the school's name on it.

He really didn't think she was strong enough to shove _him_ into a wall... not that he was complaining at the moment. He did manage to find a way to turn it around and soon she was the one pinned against cold tile.

They'd hardly let up for any air and it suddenly became crucial so the two parted, breathing heavily as they looked at each other.

"D-Dilandau..." She started off in a breathy whisper.

Of course, with his great senses, he knew what was about to come. So he pushed off her and away from the wall completely.

"Oh, no!" She tried again, trying to correct her unmade mistake.

"Sorry, gotta go." He shot her a sincere smile before disappearing through the door.

Dilandau shoved his hands in his pockets as he watched the students in their uniforms playing volleyball. He continued walking out of the gymnasium.

After leaving the building he wandered around campus a bit before coming to the main building and deciding to pay a visit. He entered the office with a leisurely pace and waved at a few of the faculty members that knew him.

"He's not in right now." A secretary commented, holding a hand over the mouthpiece of the phone she was holding. "But just go on in, he'll be back in a minute." Then she went back to whatever she had been doing.

The silver-haired boy shrugged and pushed open the door. Then grinned to himself.

"Well I always did wanna know what it felt like..."

A minute or two later, the principal came strolling in, looking over a pile of papers in hand but came to a halt when his chair spun around with someone already in it.

"Cute. Now do you mind?" He asked with a raised brow.

"No, I don't, thanks." Dilandau responded with his grin and placed his feet on the table.

"Now I know you don't want this to be the last day you ever walked." Mr. Wanaki commented as he headed for his now vacated seat.

Dilandau grumbled to himself as he took a seat on the leather couch to the side.

"What're you here for? And if it's because you got kicked out of class, just grab a detention slip and get back." The principal sighed, rubbing his forehead.

"Oh, no, that's not it." Dilly said nonchalantly as he hummed something to himself. "Just stopped in for a visit."

"Does this mean you have a free period now?"

"No."

Mr. Wanaki sighed again. "This is the last time I'm doing this, you know." He said, grabbing a slip of paper to write off an excuse for the teacher. He glanced up while filling it out to see Dilandau's usual calm demeanor was hiding something. "Is there something bothering you?"

The boy snapped his head in that direction. "What makes you think that?"

The older man went on to continue scanning over the documents on his desk. "Well I haven't had to deal with you for over two weeks now. Either you're staying out of trouble or you haven't been caught. I think I'll believe the first one." At this Dilly grinned at him.

Some silence passed and Mr. Wanaki looked up, wondering why exactly it was so quiet. No response or joke or anything at all. He eyed the student warily.

"What're you doing? Planning on how to graduate without coming to school senior year?" The principal asked.

Dilandau glanced over. "Nah, kind of more like..." He struggled getting the words out because he was sure discussing this with an adult was illegal. "Girl troubles."

An eyebrow quirked up. "That's something... I didn't need to hear." He ended. Dilandau groaned and wished he hadn't said anything. But then he laughed at Dilly and smiled. "Can't be rejection right? From what I've heard you're usually the one dumping them before anything serious."

The silver-haired boy shot him a look. "And where exactly do you hear this?"

"Oh, the weekly newsletter on student happenings tells us all the going-ons." He said carelessly, shuffling the papers on his desk. He looked back up with his own grin at Dilandau's shocked face. "I didn't know you were so gullible."

Dilandau tried to correct this by putting back his calm, expressionless face. "Right." Another moment of silence. "So we had a few new students in the past month or two, huh?" He asked nonchalantly.

The principal looked down the bridge of his nose from where he'd placed his reading glasses on just a moment ago. "Yeah, two or three I believe. Strange that they decided to start in the middle of the year though." He replied thoughtfully. "Why? Do you happen to know any of them?"

The boy held back from rolling his eyes and blurting out that he was becoming the best of friends with one and he was getting a crush on another. Instead he went for another approach.

"Hey, you've been married for how many years?" He asked, seemingly out of nowhere.

"Fourteen years now..." Was the answer, in a slightly suspicious voice.

"And how exactly do you do it?" Dilandau asked again.

Mr. Wanaki stared at him blankly. "Do what?"

The teen glanced around, a little embarrassed. "I dunno. I guess... staying with someone for so long. Doesn't that get boring at all?"

Having some idea of where this conversation was going, he answered. "Well... no, not at all. Like with everything there are good days and bad days but it's never gotten boring, we've never gotten tired of each other. Or at least I haven't, I don't know if she's ever felt that way."

Dilandau rolled his eyes. "That was helpful." A small pause.

"Being in a relationship is a big step for a lot of people." The older man went on, sensing that he wouldn't be prompted to by the teen. He guessed Dilandau was too proud to ask for help, so he offered it without being asked. Mr. Wanaki turned his chair to face Dilly directly now. "I know that everyone out there seems to think just saying 'I love you' is hard but there's a lot more to it than a few words."

Dilandau glanced at the principal without trying to show any interest. "Like what? What's so hard? Keeping it together?"

He shook his head. "There are lots of ups and downs in a relationship. But the part you realize you really want to commit to someone isn't after the first three dates, or running through a field of flowers with them or just having a relationship full of smooth sailing." Dilandau grinned at all the analogies he used in one sentence. "It's when you realize how hard it is. And saying to them, I'll go through this and more to be with you. Are you willing to do the same?"

The teen stared at him blankly, and the principal paused to let it sink in.

Before the older man could say anything or ask any other questions, Dilly was up and heading for the door. Mr. Wanaki just shook his head and made a note to try and keep up with his students more thoroughly.

Dilandau walked out of the office with the taste of someone still on his lips. And it wasn't the brunette.

**xoxo**

Celena stopped suddenly in her tracks as she spotted someone in the distance. He glanced up as he came closer and noticed her as well.

She tried to relax her posture and act natural. "Hey Dilly." She greeted, wincing on the inside and wishing she hadn't used that dumb nickname.

His red eyes stared her down for a second. "Yeah, hey. What's up?" He asked, trying to ease into a casual conversation.

Because it would be impossible to say that _he_, the great Dilandau Albatou, was nervous... or something. But he had spent the past few days thinking too much. And really just... missing someone. Which was a little hard to pinpoint but he realized in a middle of his day he'd rather be having a witty conversation with Celena than doing whatever it was.

But of course he always remembered that she was hardly speaking to him, and most likely getting on with her life just fine anyway. And worst of all... after today's episode in the locker room, which was actually the first time he'd kissed anyone since a certain blonde, he kind of missed her in another, non-platonic, way.

He was definitely going to hell. And only because he was just asking for it.

"Nothing. Just one more class and I can get home." Celena started off. But she opened her mouth and closed it again, not wanting to ramble on like an idiot, which she knew was likely to happen.

"Mm." He went, almost uninterestedly.

They both stood there, looking around a little uneasily, trying not to think about what happened yesterday.

"What're you doing tomorrow?" He asked her abruptly.

Celena looked up so fast her neck almost snapped off. "Wha- Why?" She asked, mentally yelling at herself.

Dilandau let a grin slowly spread across his face. "Nope, nothing at all." He moved to start walking away but pause to glance over his shoulder. "Just make sure you're free tomorrow."

"For what?" She kept going, staring at him. "And what time?"

The blonde let out a frustrated sigh and blew her hair up as she watched him leave without actually answering her. Though when he was out of sight she grinned to herself too.

'Do I have a date... with Dilandau?' She asked herself. Although it was too late to make sure because she was already giddy about it.

**xoxo**

Allen walked off the campus, trying to hide his grumpy mood, but the footsteps sounded more like stomping and his face just kept slipping back into that grouchy look he got when he wasn't pleased.

How long had he waited to see her? Since yesterday! And what did she do when he finally had the chance? She blew him off! And then she proclaimed that they were just... _done_.

Well, he... didn't accept that.

'She doesn't even know what she really wants!' Of course this train of thought led him down the way of wondering, what _did_ she want? Him? For what? And it wasn't likely anyway. Not that he was complaining. She was kind of a bitch anyway so might as well let her run off to her fantasy world.

Besides, making her miserable was getting old. And a little more difficult since he was too busy trying to please himself, which in turn pleased her a little as well. God, he might as well just turn over to another girl or something. She wasn't worth all the trouble. All he really needed from her now was a passing grade for history.

It was safe to say though, that his weekend was pretty much ruined.

**xoxo**

Since the next day was a Saturday, everyone was enjoying the feel of their beds as they slept in late. Well, there was one exception to this. Seeing as he was woken up by someone pouncing onto his bed, crushing a few bones and yelling 'Folken's home!' over and over.

Van only mumbled something about sticking his (Folken's) hand in a bowl of porridge and kept on snoozing.

Merle made an annoyed face and grumpily left the room to report this to her mom and eldest brother. A few minutes later Folken was in the room with a grin.

"Hey, Van. I've got someone on the phone for you. Name's Hitomi." He whispered quietly, leaning on the doorframe.

Still half asleep, Van slowly sat up in bed without opening his eyes and held out his hand, waiting to grab the device. After a moment of silence and not receiving anything his brows furrowed and an eye finally opened to see his older brother looking at him with laughter in his smile.

"Oh great." He mumbled, trying not to groan out loud. Van turned and got off the bed, heading for the bathroom with his brother in tow.

"So Merle's told me all about your girlfriend." Folken started, trying to put on a serious expression.

Van didn't bother to respond, wishing it were a weekday. At least he could escape his family by going to school.

"I was just gonna ask her to come over so we can hang out." The older Fanel went on.

The other just rolled his eyes, still brushing his teeth. When he was finished, in between using on his face, he responded. "Shouldn't you be out somewhere? Like at the gym or something?"

Folken made a face and flexed his arm. "Nope. I've still got it." He said, patting the muscle appreciatively.

Van shot him a disgusted look. "Why're you home so early?" He asked, walking out of the bathroom and towards the kitchen.

"What do you mean? It's already ten." Folken said cheerily, following his younger brother.

"Oh honey, you're finally up!" Varie said happily. "Good thing too. Merle and Folken wanted to eat the rest of the pancakes." She looked at Merle who was frowning as she finished her own plate. "Where in the world did you all get such big stomachs, I'll never know."

"So Folken," Van started, after sitting down and taking a big bite of his pancakes. "When're you leaving again?"

Varie shushed him and walked over to wash the dishes, only to have Folken volunteer for the job himself. Merle just finished her own pancakes and was licking the syrup off her fork.

"Folken's got a week off, so he's gonna be home the entire time." Merle answered.

Van groaned to himself.

**xoxo**

Millerna on the other hand was able to sleep in as late as she liked, and then was treated to a sweet smelling breakfast with her favorite people, her family. And luckily for her, today was the big day.

"So what're we doing?" Marlene whispered conspiratorially by the stairs with her two younger sisters. Arianna was currently taking a nice, soothing bath upstairs.

"Well I'm just glad we all managed to say happy birthday without giggling like last year." Eries responded with folded arms and glaring at her older sister. Marlene let out her nervous giggle at that moment.

"You'd think after all these years she'd start to suspect something every time you two come over. It's practically a tradition by now." Millerna commented with a finger to her chin.

Eries just shrugged. "Maybe she does but she doesn't say anything."

"So, is it dinner at a fancy restaurant this time?" Marlene questioned them.

"I think we should just stay home and plan something this time. We'd have more freedom to do whatever we want that way." The middle sister rationalized. Millerna nodded in agreement.

"Then... I'll make dinner. What about you two?" Marlene asked, pushing her hair back.

"I'll do dessert. Either a traditional birthday cake or maybe we'll try something new." Eries said to herself.

Millerna stared at the two of them. "I guess... I'll do entertainment." She cracked a smile. "Why not just sit at home eating and watching our favorite movies then?"

Marlene smiled as well. "That sounds like a great idea! Okay then, that's set. But how are we gonna distract her long enough to get it done? I mean, dinner won't take more than an hour. I won't go over the top or anything, just something simple and yummy."

Eries glanced around thoughtfully. "I would volunteer for it but..."

The youngest blonde rolled her eyes. "All you have to do is buy a cake. Of course you can do it."

"All right, fine. I'll just bring up the topic of your arranged marriage and see if I can get you out of it so you can keep the cute blonde guy, Allen right?" Eries said with a wink and thumbs up.

"What?! Allen and I aren't together in that sense! We've just been working on this stupid school project together!" Millerna tried to protest. "And don't you dare mention some 'other guy' being the reason for ending the arrangement!" She narrowed her eyes dangerously.

"Sure, sure." Eries replied as she began walking away and Marlene couldn't hide her smile as the youngest sister kept making faces.

"What's going on down there girls?" Arianna asked, standing at the top of the stairs.

"Nothing!" All three shouted in unison with cute smiles and obedient poses.

**xoxo**

Celena sat on the living sofa trying not to shake with anticipation. She was so sure that Dilandau wanted to see her today that she couldn't help waking up early, taking a shower and making sure she looked perfect before coming downstairs.

Where she had been sitting for the past two hours. After the usual Saturday morning cartoons had ended she flipped channels until finding something worthy to watch. Now it was nearing one o'clock and nothing had happened.

Allen walked into the kitchen after finally trampling his way down the stairs and grabbed some poptarts before walking back to the living room where his baby sister sat looking like she was ready to leave the house soon.

"Where are you going this early?" He asked, raising a brow through the practically expressionless morning face he wore.

"No where." She said indignantly. "And it's not early." She said again, shooting him a pointed look.

"Oh, right." He scratched his head and sat down to eat his poptarts in peace. After taking a bite he asked something that could barely be understood with all the chunks of food in his mouth, and he was lucky to not choke.

"Mom decided to head out early for some grocery shopping and Dad went over to stare at the neighbor's new electronic something system." She answered, still staring at the TV She did manage to tear her eyes away long enough to give her brother the once over. "How come you slept in so late? Usually you're up early to fix your hair and..." Celena trailed off, staring at the tangled mess on her brother's head.

Allen didn't bother making an excuse or letting his hand automatically move to assess the damage. He just shrugged and went on eating. Celena held back from saying anything.

Both blondes were wondering what the hell was wrong with them. Allen letting himself get out of shape? Celena looking like she's entering a beauty pageant, albeit without the makeup? Allen reassured himself that it was better he stopped being so vain, and that he deserved a day off from all his normal primping anyway. Celena was thinking the opposite, wanting to take advantage of looking her best on a day where anything (hopefully something) could happen.

The two sighed, not noticing each other in the room.

**xoxo**

Hitomi was pretty surprised when she heard an unknown voice calling out her name as she walked around the shopping area, running errands for her mom. She glanced over her shoulder and around once more, but saw no one that she knew. That and the voice didn't really sound familiar.

She tried to continue on her way, holding the list in one hand and clinging to her shoulder bag with the other. But soon she heard her name again, and this time the voice was closer. When she turned around to see if this person was indeed calling her, she found a pink-haired girl running up to her and throwing a hug around her torso.

"Uh..." Hitomi said, standing there in shock. "Do I-"

The girl jumped back. "Oh right, maybe you don't remember me. I'm Merle, Van's younger sister." And she threw out her hand for a formal handshake as she reintroduced herself.

"I... Hi. Sorry." Hitomi started off, unsure of what to do.

"No, it's okay. I think I've had one too many pizzas or something." Merle waved it off. "So what're you doing?"

"Oh, I'm just shopping for some things. Uh, what're you doing?" She questioned back, looking around unsurely.

"Out with the fam. I guess you could say it's our exercise every time Folken comes home. The exercise being we have to try and deal with him." Merle smiled happily.

"Oh." Hitomi was still looking around discretely. "So Van and-"

Unfortunately she was interrupted, and yet her question was answered at the same time. A trio consisting of one woman and two guys came into view just over Merle's shoulder.

Hitomi was cursing herself for not making a quick getaway, which could've avoided this situation. Merle turned around at the sound of her name to see her mother sighing exasperatedly.

"Why'd you go running off? What if we'd lost you for good? What if you were kidnapped?" Varie went on with a concerned face as they walked up to the two girls, Hitomi looking like a deer caught in headlights.

Van mumbled. "I wouldn't mind having her kidnapped." To which Varie shushed him.

The last member of their group, who Hitomi only guessed to be Folken, smiled kindly to the newcomer. "Hi, I'm Folken, Merle's oldest brother." He said, offering his hand and quick to introduce himself to who _he_ guessed was one of his sister's friends.

"Oh." Hitomi said lamely again, shaking his hand. "I'm Hitomi."

Folken's eyebrows went up as his memory kicked in. He gave his brother a scrutinizing glance. Varie was still talking about Merle's disappearing act.

"For a minute I thought you saw something in a shop window you just had to have a look at." Varie said before turning to Hitomi. "It's great to see you again Hitomi!" She said excitedly, and Van ducked his head, not looking at anything but the floor. "I would invite you to have lunch with us but we've already eaten."

Folken was still staring at the girl with a frown, and Hitomi was starting to get uncomfortable. "Oh, that's okay. I was just out to get some things for my mom." She said with a nervous laugh and avoiding Folken's gaze.

Merle finally caught on and elbowed her brother. "What're you doing?"

The blue-haired man blinked and snapped out of his thoughts. "Ah, sorry about that." He said with a friendly chuckle. "It's just..." He glanced at Van. "I didn't think Van would find a girl this pretty."

Folken, Varie and Merle laughed at this as if it were some kind of inside joke. Except Van was still in the corner sulking and Hitomi was trying to think of a quick way out without sounding rude.

The laughter subsided. "So really, you're _Van's friend_, huh?" He questioned. "The one I talked to on the phone?"

Merle and their mother shot him a quizzical look. Hitomi giggled nervously again, to herself. "Yea, that was... me." She answered, wanting to bury herself in the ground. Van was avoiding her look for help.

"Hey, why don't you come over after your shopping?" Merle asked excitedly, eager to get to know the older girl.

She saw her chance and gave an apologetic smile to the assembled group. "Sorry, I'm not sure I can. I'll try to stop by I guess, but no promises." Merle and Varie let out their respective 'aw's of disappointment and Folken just grinned with a 'next time'. "Uh, if you don't mind I wanted to ask Van something about school."

At hearing this, the raven-haired boy looked up to stare at her in surprise. Hitomi went on being charming as Merle, Varie and Folken said their goodbyes to her, hoping she'd come over today and walked away to leave the two to their own.

When she was sure they were out of sight, Hitomi walked over and stepped on his foot with the heel of her shoe. "Nice." She commented with a glare. "You really saved me back there." Van glared back, after the second surprise of pain. "Your brother was examining me from head to toe. No wonder he can't believe you'd 'get' a girl like me." She said, turning her nose up.

"What'd you want me to do? I don't think it'd be appropriate to have Merle on a leash, not like I haven't tried." He grumbled. At Hitomi's quick look he mumbled, "I was eight, okay?" As if that explained everything.

"And what was with you the whole time? You couldn't have spoken up or something? Now they're all expecting me to come over to your house like we're the best of friends." She went on hopelessly.

"Yeah, and that's just the farthest thing from the truth, right?" He answered with a glare.

Hitomi stopped to stare at him openly.

Van finally had the decency to glance away.

"I have to go." And before Van could look up, she was stalking away in a flurry.

He stared after her, wishing he wasn't such a jerk. And he couldn't stop staring until she was out of sight, noticing the light blue, tiered skirt she was wearing and that even though her hair was so short, it still managed to bounce and get whipped around by the hurried movement she was making.

Van shook his head before holding it with his hands, wishing he didn't feel the way he did.

**xoxo**

It was amazing how awfully boring this weekend was turning out to be. And Saturday was only _half_ done!

Allen laid on his bed, one arm beneath his head as he used the other to toss a hacky sack carelessly into the air and catch it before repeating the process.

Celena was probably still sitting on the living room couch where he'd left her. And being the older brother he was, instinct told him that something was going on. But since he was basically taking a vacation from his life, he didn't bug her with questions, or accusations.

And now every time he closed his eyes, all he could picture was smooth, milky white skin and pink lips set into a frown with disapproving lavender eyes staring at him.

"Argh!" The teen sat up abruptly, just as the hacky sack came to land on his head. "Why am I still thinking about her anyway? That's over." He mumbled to himself, arms resting on his knees. He ran a hand through his still tangled blonde locks and sighed.

He tried to lie back down to his previous position and stared around his room, drinking in everything he knew so well already. The day was calm and warm, and a window was open so the curtains flowed alongside his bed.

And slowly his eyes started to drift shut, and he was back to daydreaming about kissing her in every scenario possible. Somewhere through his subconscious he realized he wanted more from her than just a grade and a few meaningless encounters.

**xoxo**

"I'm back!" She called, pushing the door closed with her foot and trying to balance the pile in her arms. She cursed the sales guy for not giving her a plastic bag for everything.

Exhausted, Millerna finally dumped the movies onto a sofa in the living room before moving to pull off her jacket. On her way however she found a note from Marlene. Scribbled out was something about needing to pick up something at the store and Eries was still out with their mother so that meant...

The blonde sighed to herself as she realized that she was alone in the house for the first time in almost a week. She sat down on a sofa with a 'plop' and looked around the room. Soon she was busy stacking all the movies onto the coffee table and looking over the titles.

Millerna glanced up at the TV in front of her and the DVD player on a shelf underneath it. She walked over and sat on the floor to move something aside.

She found herself pulling out an old tape that hadn't seen daylight in years. There were more too, from when Marlene was born, the first child, Eries' first day of school and a few others, all filled with various memories.

Blowing the dust off a random one, she pushed it into the barely used slot and hit play. She looked up as color took over the screen and her eyes widened.

She heard something from outside and quickly got up to see who it was. Sighing in relief, Millerna turned back; it was only the neighbor. She didn't want her sisters, or even her mother to walk in on her as she started crying. Which is exactly what she did.

Carefully though, she pushed a button on the remote control and the words 'mute' came up in the corner in small letters. But she could still hear everything in her head as if it were happening right now.

In fact, it felt as if she could actually hear her father's voice, even though she hadn't seen or heard from him in...

'Wait a minute.' Millerna realized, jumping up from the couch and heading to the source of the sound.

"Sorry I'm calling a bit early." He went on with a chuckle as Millerna stared, horror-struck, at the answering machine in the hall. "But I guess you aren't home anyway. I just wanted to say Happy Birthday and maybe talk to you... about the girls. Just call me when you get this. I'd hate to have to wait another year to have a reason to call you again." He continued with his suppressed laughter, as if there were some inside joke.

Millerna stared and stared, even after he'd hung up and the light kept blinking, waiting for someone to listen to the message. And when she did find it in herself to pick up the phone it was too late.

**xoxo**

Elsewhere another blonde was sitting in her room, brooding. Not even ten feet away from her brother, Celena was in a completely different state of mind. She found herself glancing at the clock and every time a minute passed, she got more and more annoyed at the prospect of waiting. Waiting, for something she wasn't even sure would happen.

'I can't believe I just fell for it. Come on! How stupid am I?' She thought to herself, bringing her knees up to rest her arms and head on them.

"A date?" She asked herself out loud. "I actually thought he'd wanna go out with me? He's probably still complaining about how I kissed him the other day when I gave back his lighter. I mean, why would he wanna kiss me anyway? It's not like I know what I'm doing."

And with that she was sent into another ten minutes of silent gloominess.

She glanced at the clock once more and saw the numbers. '3:55 already?' Celena looked around her room. 'And yet I'm still... waiting. What am I doing? I should just... get up, go find something to do and forget about him.' Then she groaned and threw herself back onto the bed. "That's so much easier than it sounds. I don't have anything to do, or anyone to hang out with for that matter."

Moving the arm that was covering her eyes, she stared up as something hit her. "Oh crap... what about Allen? He would've killed Dilandau for showing up anyway. And then I'd be shipped off to my old school again." She paused with a sigh. "But I guess that doesn't surprise me. If I could just get out of the house without him knowing..."

She shook her head and sat up, looking at her hands. "What am I thinking? Why would I go through all the trouble just to hang out with... Dilandau?" She said, making a face as if the thought of it was disgusting. "Even if it was a date."

Celena paused, letting her eyes trail around her room, thinking. And when his name and face popped into mind she could feel the hairs on the back of her neck stand up and her stomach flip-flopped.

"This is hopeless!" She said, throwing herself back on the bed with and holding a pillow over her head.

**xoxo**

Hitomi turned the knob as she entered the house and announced herself, trying to make it to the kitchen before dropping the bags she had in hand. Soon her brother tumbled his way into the room and started going through the bags.

"Would you stop looking around and just put everything away for me?" She asked in a tired voice.

Mamoru looked up. "What? Why do I have to do it?"

"Cuz you're touching the bags already."

"So? You bought them!"

"Exactly, now it's your turn to do something."

He still glared, but as soon as their mother came through the doorway he was stuffing something into a cabinet.

"Is there anything else you wanted me to do today, Mom?" Hitomi asked, leaning over the counter eagerly.

The woman just shook her head and smiled. "Why don't you just go out and enjoy the rest of your Saturday? How about you invite some of your new friends over? I haven't met any of them yet." She commented, walking over to the sink.

Hitomi rolled her eyes. "I think they're all pretty much busy. Millerna said she'd be with her sisters planning something for her mom's birthday."

"Was that today?" Hitomi's mom asked, looking over her shoulder.

"Yea... and Dilandau... isn't exactly the bring-me-home-to-your-parents type." Hitomi said thoughtfully.

Mamoru snickered. "A guy? And he's just a friend, huh? I bet you're lying."

Hitomi refrained from responding to his childish behavior, but she still tried to trip him as he left the kitchen.

"So you're just gonna sit at home all day?" Her mother questioned.

The brunette teen glanced around... "I dunno. I guess so." She thought back to the incident from earlier, feeling her face get warm as anger rose up in her system. 'Stupid jerk. First he's confessing his feelings and now he can't look at me or even pretend to like me... as a friend. Is it my fault he likes me? Although he must be out of his stupid mind to like someone like me.' Hitomi looked up, putting on a small smile. "Actually I think I will go out."

'It's not as if _he's _expecting me. Merle and Folken and their mom invited me over.' She thought, nodding to herself as she walked out of the kitchen.

"Sure, honey. Where are you going this time?" Her mother asked, only to turn around and find an empty spot where her daughter had been.

Hitomi had just stepped out the front door, trying to remember the path she'd used to get to his house before. Going there straight after school was one thing but since they lived a good way apart she did get a little confused.

But about half an hour later, she was standing in front of the familiar house. Hitomi took a deep breath to calm herself down before walking up to ring the doorbell.

The last thing she expected was for Van to be the one answering the door. His look of surprise though, quickly evaporated and was replaced by annoyance. But he didn't say anything but let her in.

Merle came bounding through the hall to see who their guest was. Folken was coming up the stairs from his room in the basement and Varie was standing by the kitchen door in an apron.

"Hi." Hitomi said, waving cheerfully. Beside her Van was like a black hole. She shifted her leg to 'accidentally' kick him, and observed when he suddenly changed color.

"Hey, we didn't think we'd see you again today." Folken said with his own smile as everyone took a seat in the living room.

Varie smiled happily. "So will you be staying with us for dinner, Hitomi?"

"Oh, I'm not sure. I'll call my mom later and ask her I guess." She said nervously at the unexpected invitation. 'They are just way too nice to me.' She thought, looking around at them.

"So..." Folken said, lazily staring around the room as his mother went back to the kitchen with a promise of some afternoon snacks.

"So how old are you exactly?" Merle questioned with her naturally curious face.

"Sixteen." Hitomi answered easily, making herself comfortable. "How old are you guys?"

"I'm thirteen. And Folken's too old to be living at home." Merle said, shooting her brother a look and sticking out her tongue.

"Twenty. Still in college. I dorm, but I visit _every time_ I can." Folken answered, making a face back at his sister. No one noticed Van slink away back into his room but Hitomi, and she kept her annoyance to herself.

"Oh, uh... my brother's thirteen too actually." She said, reintroducing herself in the conversation.

Merle jumped in her seat. "That's so cool! Maybe I know him then!"

"How do you know Van again? Just in the same classes?" Folken asked, just as curious as his sister had been earlier.

The girl looked around, wondering why no one else noticed their own brother wasn't there. "Just one class. And we didn't really get along at first." She chose not to comment on how things were going at the moment.

"Oh darn."

The three looked up to see Varie in the doorway. "Folken I forgot to get something so would you mind..."

Folken was already up and walking over to where his mother stood. "Yeah, it's fine. I'll be back in fifteen minutes." He gave Hitomi a reassuring smile. "What was it?" He asked, turning back to his mother.

Hitomi didn't have a chance to hear anymore of the conversation as she was dragged up from the couch and off to one corner of the house.

"Where are we-" She stopped short as they entered a room in the house.

"This is my room." Merle introduced. "Now we can have some _real_ conversations."

"Eh? About what?" The brunette asked, hoping she wasn't transparent.

The pink-haired girl blinked. "Well... I'm not quite sure. I don't really have girl talks with my friends from school." She looked around thoughtfully. Hitomi took a seat on the bed as Merle walked around, attempting to tidy up a few things.

She turned around suddenly. "Girl things... like... guys I guess. And whatever else comes with being a teenager." Merle tried to explain.

"So what do you want me to say?" Hitomi questioned with wide eyes. She definitely didn't like this situation.

Merle threw herself on the bed. "Who was the first guy you kissed? And when?"

She most definitely didn't like this at all. "Uh... maybe I'll answer that some other time."

"Why? It's not like I'll know who it is anyway, right?"

"I'm actually still..." She started, then took another deep breath as she'd done before and turned to the younger girl. "I haven't had a first kiss yet."

Merle's eyes widened. "No way. Really?" Hitomi just nodded. "Oh, that's great! At least I know I'm not some freak who no one wants to touch." She sighed.

"What do you mean?" Hitomi asked after a pause.

"I mean... everyone I know seems to think that if you haven't been kissed yet, you're some kind of loser. Everyone has done it already. Or at least they say so." The pink haired girl went on to explain. They both thought this over.

"I'm pretty sure they're lying. Even though there might be some thirteen year olds that wanna 'experiment' right now. I don't know, maybe it's just me, but what'd they do? Have a party, invite everyone in their grade and just made sure everyone got a kiss?" Hitomi said, rationalizing with a smile. Merle nodded along with it.

There was another silence.

"So you and my brother, huh?"

Hitomi's head jerked in Merle's direction to see the tanned girl grinning at her. "Wha- what did you just say?" She asked, fearing her next words.

"Come on. I may be only thirteen but I'm a lot more mature than that. It comes with growing up with two older brothers... who sometimes act like they're five." Merle said, still grinning. "And I can sense there's just something weird with you two, you know? I'm not all that experienced with crushes and stuff, but I know what it feels like. And you both fit the description of that situation. So who's got the crush anyway? Both of you?"

The brunette stared helplessly. "Uh..."

"Don't worry, I won't tell anyone."

She was still gaping, but unsure of what to say. Lying would be bad; she apparently saw the truth with her own eyes anyway. But what would she say? That Van liked her but she could only look at him as a friend and now he was upset with her for that? Hitomi closed her mouth and looked away. "It's not something we should talk about." She answered.

Merle although, wanted to pretend she didn't understand the seriousness... but instead gave up the topic. "Wanna go watch a movie?" She asked, grabbing a bunch of DVDs from a nearby shelf and holding them up.

"Sure!" Hitomi smiled, feeling more comfortable.

**xoxo**

Before her eldest sister walked in through the front door, Millerna already had the videos in two stacks on the table, and they were barely noticeable with the usual clutter of magazines, remote controls for the TV, VCR DVD players and other things.

She had put down the phone and went into the living room to watch TV as if it were any other normal day. Marlene came home only fifteen minutes later.

Said blonde, glanced around with a plastic bag in hand. "Hey, you got everything you needed for later?" Marlene asked, before making her way to the kitchen.

Millerna got up, turned off the box in front of her and followed her sister. "Yeah, I think I'll just clean up a bit around the house, do you mind?" She asked.

"No, 'course not." She paused and turned around with a look after putting down the bag. "But I wonder where Eries and Mom are. I didn't think she'd get her out of the house for more than an hour. And I really didn't mean to take so long."

"It was only half an hour."

"Still, it would've been bad if they got home before I did to finish this." Marlene said, motioning around to the clutter in the kitchen.

Millerna nodded. "Alright, I'll just fix things up a bit, downstairs and upstairs and then a quick shower. You too, you know. When I'm done just go relax and I'll finish up here."

The older sister smiled. "Thanks. Okay, go! Who knows how long we've got."

The younger blonde quickly walked into the living to get started, putting things in their place and organizing stuff that nobody would probably notice anyway. It was the only thing she could do to keep herself occupied, and not marching up the stairs and slamming her bedroom door like a thirteen year old.

After that there was the dining room, the first floor bathroom, which she only judged to be fine with a glance, then headed upstairs. Being the people they were, all the beds were unmade and clothes were littered around each of the three rooms.

'Geez, for just visiting they seemed to have packed their entire closets.' She thought, picking up strewn shirts, skirts and pants to hang in the closets.

By then half an hour had gone by and she was sure Marlene needed some help in the kitchen, so she hurried to take a shower and got dressed in a pair of sweatpants and t-shirt.

"So, where are we?" Millerna asked, standing in the kitchen doorway.

"Baked ziti, almost done. And I got us popcorn and more junk food for watching movies." Marlene commented, turning around with her hair mussed and sweating. "What's with the outfit?" She asked after assessing her sister's look.

"Hey, we agreed to this because it'd be more comfortable and we'd have more freedom to do whatever. And that includes wearing whatever we want." Millerna replied defensively.

The older sister sighed. "Okay, well I'll go take a quick shower of my own. Make sure to take it out and clean up a little. Hopefully they won't be home for another twenty minutes at least."

As one blonde hurried up the stairs, another was standing over the counter with a loud sigh of her own. 'What's wrong with what I'm wearing?' She thought indignantly. 'It's not like we're going out tonight or something.' But those trivial thoughts were just meant to be a distraction from the bigger picture. And it all boiled down to her getting angry over the facts.

But thinking about them right now was sure to ruin the entire night, for her mother and sisters, who could only visit a few times each year. So why turn this into a disaster for them? Millerna took a deep breath and grabbed a pair of oven mitts to take out the ziti.

After placing it onto the counter, turning off the oven and washing the dishes she was abruptly removed from her zen state by the front door opening. Millerna grabbed the counter in her shock and almost knocked over a few glasses she was putting away at the moment.

She hurried to the front door and noticed Marlene, still dripping in a robe and a towel around her head, coming down the stairs at the same time. Obviously she had gotten lost in that 'quick' shower.

Arianna looked at the two as she came inside. "What's wrong?" She questioned, taking off her shoes to grab a comfortable pair of slippers. Eries stood behind her and shrugged to her siblings.

"Happy Birthday!" The two shouted, prompting Eries to join in. Arianna stared at her daughters until they started to explain the night they had planned, even though it was only about five thirty.

"Why don't you go upstairs and take a nice long bath and we'll just finish getting everything ready." Eries said, giving her a light push up the stairs.

Arianna just laughed. "What am I going to do when you all move away for good and don't have time for me?"

"Don't be silly, that'll never happen!" Marlene responded with a cheery smile and bouncing on her feet like a little kid. "I'm already married and have a kid and I still ditched them to be here with you guys."

"Yeah and we're still not sure if that's a good thing." Eries joked. A few laughs went around as Arianna continued her way up the stairs and out of sight.

"You're not even ready? I gave you more than enough time." Eries said with a look.

"Sorry, my shower took a little longer than I thought." Marlene said sheepishly. "I'm just gonna go upstairs and put on some clothes."

"Why don't you take a quick shower downstairs, Eries? And we'll just finish setting things up." Millerna suggested. "Where'd you guys go anyway?"

Marlene paused from her place on the second step and turned back. "Yeah I was wondering about that too."

The middle sister looked uncomfortable for once. "I'll tell you guys about it later. Are there any towels down here I could use?" She asked, changing the subject entirely and looking at Millerna.

There was a pause from the other two blondes. "Uh... no, Marlene could you grab one from the closet upstairs and toss it down here? And I'll just finish cleaning up the kitchen." Millerna responded, and everyone went on to what they were going to do.

**xoxo**

Hitomi realized she was actually having a good time, as Merle, Folken, Varie and herself sat down in the living room after the movie finished. It was nearing six and the brunette had already called home to say she might miss dinner but she'd get something to eat at Van's house (of course she used Merle's name instead).

Varie had skipped trying to make a formal dinner for their guest and instead started on hamburgers as they took a break from the movie that had just ended and the next one they'd be watching. Which Folken and Merle were still arguing over.

"Hey, where's the bathroom?" Hitomi asked standing up, even though she already knew the answer from being there before. After getting a mumble and a finger pointed in some vague direction she quietly slipped out of the living room. The smile on her face eased off and she was wondering what Van could be up to as she headed for his bedroom door, as was her intention all along.

Unfortunately, she couldn't sneak inside, because the door was locked. But he must've heard the knob jiggling around and jumped up to open the door himself.

Hitomi stared unsurely, but Van had already dismissed her and went back to his bed and put the headphones around his neck back on his ears. The room was dark, and the only way she could see was from the street lights coming through the vertical blinds on both his windows.

She took a step in and pretended to look around, as if she didn't know what the room looked like when it wasn't bathed in light. "So this is what you've been doing here the whole time?" She questioned, closing the door slightly behind her, not wanting to be overheard. This, she guessed, was the downfall of not having a house with two stories.

Van only glanced up at her once, but she wasn't sure if he could hear her with the headphones on. Hitomi glared at him and put her hands on her hips. "What's wrong with you now?" She asked again, this time moving to pull off the headphones, which he instinctively knew was coming and thus dodged her attack and removed them himself.

The dark-haired teen though, chose not to answer her and instead moved to grab a different CD off the pile on his end table, ignoring the girl completely. Hitomi took a seat on his bed and glanced up as she saw him stiffen slightly in his place, although trying hard not to let it show.

Of course she couldn't ignore the facts forever. It had to do with how he felt towards her, and she wasn't helping any by bothering him. Overwhelmed by guilt she got up and began walking towards the door. "I'm sorry, Van." She said sincerely, turning around to look at him before she left the room again.

**xoxo**

Getting through dinner was easy enough. Millerna found herself forgetting completely about the message on the machine as they talked and laughed and joked about the present and memories from a comfortable distance in the past.

"So what next?" Arianna asked as they began clearing the table.

"Movies. It was Millerna's job." Eries said, motioning with a jerk of the head.

"And more food." Marlene added, picking up another plate. "Just go sit in the living room and we'll be there in a second."

She smiled at her daughters and got up from her chair. "I'm actually glad you didn't decide to take me out to dinner. I had nothing to wear anyway." Arianna glanced down at her clothes, a random, odd skirt and a t-shirt.

"And that was my idea!" Millerna said happily, taking the credit that was rightfully hers. "Who wants to dress up when you're at home anyway?" She thought out loud, and then felt a pang as she realized that's what she'd been doing for the past five years. Dressing up for everyone, except her family.

In another ten minutes the dishes were left to soak in the sink and the four of them sat comfortably around the living room deciding what to watch.

"Ugh..." Eries grunted while stretching her arms. "Can't we just spend half an hour lying around so we can digest dinner?"

"Wow, look who's being lazy." Marlene mocked.

After a bit more sibling squabbles, a movie was decided on and the four huddled in their respective place from either a sofa or on the floor. Half an hour into the movie Marlene brought out the popcorn and other snacks, and soon the floor and coffee table were littered with empty bags and crumbs, because watching 'The Notebook' required one's full attention.

When it was over, the group took a ten minute break to get up, stretch and clean up a bit before starting the second movie. Halfway through the movie Millerna looked up as the phone started to ring, and as much as Marlene tried to coax her mom to let her get it, Arianna insisted on getting up to answer it herself.

Her concentration was shot now. Millerna let her eyes slide to the corners in an attempt to see her mother picking up the phone in the hallway and straining her ears to pick up the conversation. But the TV was too distracting, the volume was too loud. And it didn't matter anyway, she was sure she knew who it was.

Millerna stood up and made her way to the bathroom, the door being right outside the hallway table that the phone occupied. She walked at a slow pace while in range of her mother's conversation but it was quiet as she passed and closed the bathroom door.

When she came out two minutes later, Arianna wasn't there by the phone. Millerna walked closer to the table, careful not to be seen by anyone who might be peering out from the living room. She stood there thoughtfully, thinking maybe she was paranoid. But then she glanced down and saw that the machine held no messages. Like the one that had been recorded earlier that afternoon.

Impulsively, emotions rushed to the surface and she felt her face heating up. Rigidly she walked back to the living, but stood in the entranceway, staring at her family.

"What's wrong, honey? Come sit down and-" Her mother started with a smile after noticing Millerna.

She tried to be calm about it. "Who was that on the phone?" Millerna asked, folding her arms and leaning her shoulder against the wall.

"Oh, no one important. Just an old friend." Arianna replied, but Millerna noticed the moment her eyes flicked to the TV screen.

"Who was it?" She asked again, this time gritting her teeth and trying not to get mad.

Marlene and Eries, who had been trying to shrug off the conversation now turned over to watch their baby sister as she glared at their mother.

Arianna looked confused. "What's wrong?"

Millerna found herself standing upright again with her hands in fists at her sides. She closed her eyes briefly. "Was it him?" She asked quietly. A silence followed. And finally, "Was it dad?!" She screamed, opening her eyes and staring down her mother.

Her siblings turned their shocked gazes to Arianna who gaped.

"He left a message earlier, didn't he? And I was home when he called, but I missed it. I heard him though. I heard his voice, and it was him again just now, wasn't it? It's why you deleted the message on the machine, right?" Millerna found herself asking.

"Dad... called?" Marlene found herself asking, turning to her mother again. Eries stayed quiet.

"It was him." Arianna admitted, seeing no other way out. "He just called to wish me Happy Birthday."

"After six years?" Eries prompted, looking up from her place on the floor.

"Of course not." Millerna answered, only glancing down at her sister. "What was the rest, mom? What else did he say on that message? He sounded like this was an annual thing. Him calling on your birthday."

Arianna gaped again, and suddenly got very defensive. "It doesn't matter anymore. He's not in our lives, so you don't need to worry yourselves over this."

"Not in _our_ lives, yes. But apparently he's still in yours." Millerna answered back. Light from the TV danced across the dark room, no one had bothered to turn on any lights, not wanting to ruin the ambiance.

Rarely having seen her daughters in a fighting stance, Arianna stared at her youngest. "What would you like me to say? Yes, he calls every so often, to say happy birthday, to check up-"

"What?" Eries' voice cut in sharply. "To check up on what? Us?" She asked, now turning to stare at her mother. "_He left for another woman!_" She said slowly, with venom, as if her mother just didn't understand the enormity of it.

"I know that." Arianna replied, steel in her own voice. The only person to flinch at those words was Marlene, who was trying not to pick a side and stayed quiet. "Of course I know what happened!" She snapped again. "Didn't you think I had to see him while we finalized the divorce, met with our lawyers, straightened things out? Do you realize how lucky we are to even still have this house?!" She shouted from her place on the couch.

Now all three sisters flinched, only because they'd never really heard their mother yell, especially at them. Marlene was still staring at the floor with a blank look, only Eries and Millerna braving the worst by glaring (Millerna) and staring (Eries) their mother down.

"So yes, after we got over the awkward, post-divorcing each other stage we came to a common ground. And yes, he does call once in a while." Arianna continued.

"And what? He checks up on us but can't stand to come face us?" Millerna asked again.

Arianna finally glanced away. "No, that was my decision. I told him that it would be better if he didn't try to reestablish a relationship with any of you... yet. Of course there would be a time and place for it though, he is still your father."

The room was quiet for a moment and no one was sure what was happening. The movie was still playing, now softly, and a car passed by, the headlights passing through their open window blinds and bouncing off walls.

"You... made him stay away?" Everyone glanced over to Marlene who was looking dazed at some revelation. She snapped out of it to turn to her mother. "You made dad stay away from us for 'the right time'?" She asked again. "Is that why I have a five year old son who doesn't know anything about his maternal grandfather?" Marlene questioned, her voice rising. "Because you kept him away?!" She shouted, getting up from her seat and throwing the pillow from her hands back onto the sofa.

Eries interrupted, this time trying to be the voice of reason, sounding calm and neutral. "I don't think you thought this through mom. You should've... you should've just asked us what we wanted. I get you were trying to protect us from his corrupted soul but a year or two would've been forgivable." Arianna stared at her daughter in horror.

"That doesn't matter." Millerna interrupted. They all looked over to see her still standing there, tears running down her face. "I never want to see or hear from him ever again!" She screamed, and did the only thing a teen could've done. She headed for the front door and left, not bothering to close it on her way out.

Arianna rubbed her eyes and got up, heading straight up to her room, obviously trying to hide her own tears. Marlene let herself fall back onto the sofa, trying to sort through her thoughts and Eries got up for the kitchen, busying herself with the clean-up.

**xoxo**

Celena found herself being woken up by her mother, telling her that they (her parents) were heading out for a dinner for two. The teen shook her head to get rid of any sleep left and looked around, remembering that she'd come downstairs to watch TV and had fallen asleep on the couch.

She noted how odd it was that her parents weren't suffering from the midlife crisis yet, but were in the rekindle-our-love stage in their marriage. Allen and her hardly minded being left at home at random hours and usually enjoyed the fact that their parents weren't normal, in the good way.

The blonde sighed and sat up on a sofa as a blanket that someone had draped over her when she was sleeping fell down. She grabbed it, pulling it onto her lap and began flipping channels. Fifteen minutes later she got up and headed for the bathroom to freshen up for what would be a very long night, it being 8:15.

Allen was probably still in his room, taking a nap of his own. Celena could hardly believe her entire Saturday had flown by with nothing eventful but the marathon on the Nickelodeon channel. Needless to say, she was damn pissed. Sure, most of her Saturday's weren't anything special to begin with, but this time she was expecting something.

Brought out from her thoughts as the doorbell rang, she got up and angrily stormed over. She found herself staring at someone's back, someone who was nonchalantly tapping his foot a thousand times a minute and staring up at the sky disinterestedly.

"What... are you doing?" Celena asked, letting the anger seep out of her body, for the moment.

He turned around and smiled weakly. "Sorry. I was getting freaked out that it might be Allen answering the door. Or even your parents."

She folded her arms. "Well I'm surprised you used the front door. What happened to throwing pebbles at my bedroom window?" Dilandau frowned and she laughed at the face he made. "But it's late now. What do you want?" She asked carelessly, trying not to sound put off.

"So are you mad at me?" He asked, putting on a smirk.

Celena stopped herself from shouting no. "Mad at you? For what?" She questioned innocently.

Dilandau shook his head and took a step closer. "You know... how I can tell you're lying?" He asked, not waiting for a response. "Because even though you sound and act the part... there's still a wrinkle on your forehead." He said, poking at her forehead lightly. "Like trying to hold in the truth is just too hard for you."

Celena glared at him until he removed his finger. "Look, stop being paranoid. I'm not mad at you for whatever reason you think I am. And stop assuming things about me!" She argued.

In the blink of an eye, Dilandau had his hands on her arms and had moved what she thought was dangerously close. He pressed his forehead against her, eyes closed and pulling her as close as he could, ignoring the initial awkwardness he felt. Because this is what he'd been preparing himself for the entire day.

"Sorry... I was a little nervous, I'll admit. I didn't mean to make you wait so long for me." Dilandau said softly, hoping she'd hear so he wouldn't have to repeat himself and fought down the blush he knew was coming.

Celena, who had closed her eyes as well, if for nothing then just to embrace the moment, now opened them and pulled back to look at him. She watched as Dilandau looked at her with a sheepish grin, waiting for her response.

She could feel him shaking with anticipation and his hands were soft against her skin, just like she remembered the last time...

Dilandau couldn't remember another time he'd been so worked up like this. Definitely not over a girl anyway. Maybe that time he was waiting in line to get a kitten...

Celena shook her head to herself and turned back to walk inside. Dilandau was disheartened by her lack of a response, until he saw her scribbling something on a piece of paper and grabbing a sweater.

"Let's go for a walk." She suggested, shooting him an uneasy smile and wrapping herself with the sweater as she closed the door behind her.

**xoxo**

Most of the second movie was spent with the three teens in the room complaining, arguing, joking and laughing over how unrealistic everything seemed. Varie laughed along with them, after serving dinner, which was around the time she started to get worried about Van who'd been in his room all day. Folken just joked that it was 'guy stuff' and after giving each other weird glances, no one mentioned it again.

Now as Hitomi was getting ready to leave, or at least announce that she'd be leaving, she wondered what was wrong with him. Not wanting to spend time with his own family? They seemed just like hers, only one less sibling and just as crazy.

"I'm think I should get home soon." Hitomi announced after glancing at the clock.

Merle groaned in disappointment. "You could've just slept over, you know." She started. Her mother said something along the lines of 'she's got her own bed to get back to' and silenced her daughter.

Folken grinned. "Well if you ever wanna come around again just do it. And hopefully I'll be home so we can hang out or something. We should go play paintball sometime." He suggested.

Hitomi smiled. "Sure. I never thought about it." She got up slowly from her place on the floor and fixed her jeans and shirt that had been haphazardly wrinkled and twisted from her odd lounging positions.

"But really Hitomi, if you ever need anything just come and ask me. I won't ask questions if you need help out of a tight spot." Varie said with a wink.

"Ew, mom! You make it sound like she's gonna commit murder and you'd help with clean-up." Merle said, making a face and sticking out her tongue. Folken chuckled.

"Oh. Thanks." Hitomi responded with a grin. There was a pause, as they expected her to start walking to the front door, she assumed. "I'm just gonna go say bye to Van." She said, motioning behind her. They nodded to her and she turned to start walking.

"Be careful. Knock first." Folken called jokingly, and she turned back with a quick smile.

Hitomi made her way down the short hallway, hoping no one was watching as she turned the knob, surprisingly unlocked, and walked into the room.

Van didn't move his position on the bed except to let his eyes flicker over to her form. It was still dark in his room and he looked about ready to fall asleep, still listening to his music.

"I just came to say bye." She began, pausing for a response. "Because I'm, you know, leaving now." She waited.

He glanced at her once more but didn't say anything or even wave.

Hitomi stared at him, not sure what to do. "What's wrong?" She questioned desperately. "Are you mad at me? What'd I do? Maybe it was a bad idea to come over to your house." She went on and began pacing up and down, soon falling into a monologue and forgetting he was there. "Yeah, that was dumb of me. I mean you seemed pretty upset earlier. I dunno what I was thinking anyway. I was just... a little angry at you. For trying to blow me off at the mall earlier with your family. I guess I'm just not good enough to be seen with in public with you? Or to be seen with by your family?"

Van had moved to sit up at the edge of his bed and watched as the brunette walked around his room, which wasn't all that big to begin with. She did stop and turned to him.

"You're making me feel guilty. And I don't even know why. I don't even know what I did." She said to him.

Van was getting ready to break the silent treatment. "It's getting late. You should go home."

Hitomi stared at him. Then she walked to the door quickly and didn't look back, not bothering to close his bedroom door on her way out.

**xoxo**

Getting out of bed was bearable. Stumbling down the stairs wasn't all that painful, considering he almost tripped on the last two steps. Pulling open the front door with enough force to just have it swing open two inches was a challenge. But trying to fix his composure and smack away the laziness and sleep from his body was impossibly hard.

And Allen found himself blinking rapidly as he stared at someone's back. It was dark, no one had put on any of the lights on the first floor and the street lamps did very little to help him.

"Huh..." He started off, not sure if the person realized the front door was open.

The blonde in front of him who was hugging herself, barely turned her head to the right to acknowledge him. "Look, I know I said we'd never see each other again outside of school and that stupid project, but... do you mind helping me out?" She questioned, and Allen recognized the voice.

"What do you want?" He asked in an unusually straight forward manner.

Millerna blinked to herself as she heard, her tears having long stopped. After stopping in at Hitomi's only to find Mrs. Kanzaki with no clue when her daughter would be back from _Merle's_ house, calling Dilandau to find him missing and getting worried looks from Hitomi's mother, Millerna decided she couldn't stay in one place (like waiting for Hitomi at the house) and left.

She looked down in thought for a moment. What did she want? A place to stay for the night would've been nice. But way too much to ask for. Going home didn't seem appealing... tonight. If she could just kill time until morning, she'd deal with it.

Millerna looked up. "An hour." She said, turning around and walking past him into the house.

Allen just glanced at her with hooded eyes and closed the door behind them.

**xoxo**

**End of Chapter 22**

**Note: **Hacky sack (or spelled hackey sack, also known as a footbag) is something that I'm sure at least some of you have heard of. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, I'm sorry but I can't take the time to explain it here. You can however look it up on wikipedia and there's an image there as well. Maybe you've seen it in once 'popular' television shows/movies like Lizzie McGuire or the movie She's All That.

**Disclaimer-** The movie The Notebook and the Nickelodeon channel were mentioned and I'm here to say I do not own it, as in copyright laws and such. I have to tread carefully these days. I keep having to do this all the time I mention something now, which is why I usually don't mention things and leave vague descriptions...

I'm sorry, I honestly didn't mean to make this chapter come out so long, and the pattern I decided to go along with was more, short scenes that moved the plot along more quickly for you guys. But towards the end the scenes started dragging out longer and things got a little overdone. I guess when I said that the families would not be main characters I didn't realize how important they would turn into as secondary characters. I hope the random, small plotless situations you were introduced to were interesting to read about, before realizing it's part of a bigger picture.

I'm also sorry for what must've felt like the longest update in history, since my last my chapter. Yeah, I had some family issues and there's nothing important that you really need to know about. I'm just incredibly sorry it took so long, but I hope this chapter made up for the wait. **And if you're getting mad at how long it took you to read this chapter... that's prolly because it's about 13,200 words, not including this AN. Wow.**

**I really appreciate all the support and reviews you guys give me. **It was looking over reviews and things that made me start writing again for this chapter, because previously I had about 1,000 words done the first week I started writing it (check the date at the top). I actually can't believe it's been five months since then... I'm so sorry.

I'm sorry for any mistakes I might've made. While rereading and correcting things I might've rushed a bit to get this out to you guys. Also I wanted to do something I haven't done in forever- respond to reviews, at the end of this chapter. But I feel like it's already too long of a document and I won't waste the time and space. Maybe next time. Tell me how I'm doing! Thanks!

**And this is why I advise you to keep a close watch on my profile. It's the only way to stay on top of whatever I might be doing, in terms of writing and fanfiction.**

**9-16-07**

**3:41 pm**


	23. Chapter 23

10-4-07

11:19pm

**ALERT! This chapter might be mildly confusing as there will be flashback scenes inserted throughout. I decided on this instead of telling the story outright and making it a little more suspenseful. The flashback scenes will be whole scenes in **_italics_ **so you will be able to tell them apart from the storyline's present time.**

**WARNING: This chapter contains some more adult language, only slightly though, and also mention of adult themes.**

**xoxo**

**Title-Are you stalking me?!**

**Chapter 23**

**By-Moon Prynces**

**xoxo**

Awkward was one way to describe it, yes. But she tried not to let her mind linger on such thoughts. It could only make things worse.

So shoving her hands further into the pockets of her sweater, she let her feet trudge onward to an unknown destination. Metaphorically, that is. But literally, they were just plain walking around in circles.

After Dilandau's uncharacteristic display of... what she assumed was affection, he spent the time they had been strolling around to stare at the ground, street signs, the sky. Anything but her. And Celena had no clue how to rectify the situation. No attempts at conversations were made. The only sounds heard were the chirping of crickets.

A few moments later, there was the sound of something clambering. Unexpected as it was, Celena jumped and halted completely, Dilandau only just looking up from his thoughts at her sudden move when she grasped his jacket.

The two stared down the end of a driveway... and watched as glowing eyes peered back. And then a cat came skittering across the lawn and jumping behind a bush to continue its escape route.

The blonde sighed to herself, her grip loosening on his clothing. Dilandau took one look at her and started chuckling.

"Hey." She said indignantly. "What's so funny?"

He tried to shake his head. "Did you think a monster was gonna come popping out of the darkness to get you or something?" He questioned, red eyes turned on her in amusement.

Celena made a face, cheeks inflated with air. "It could've been anything you know. Like a burglar or something. So I have a right to be a little scared, okay?" She argued.

The two picked up pace again and Dilandau shook his head once more, still smiling at her. "I should get a picture of that look on your face when you get scared then." He stated, eliciting a sound from her mouth.

Finally, she decided to use this as an opening. "So... where were you all day?" Celena asked, looking up at him expectantly.

Dilandau ducked, back to staring at his feet shuffling along. "Just wandering around. Home, mostly." He said, glancing up briefly. "Sleeping mostly." He went on.

"Ah." She responded, pretending to understand. "And doing that _must_ have been more fun and exciting than being with me, right?" The blonde questioned with an exaggerated voice. "Unless you were doing something entirely different than _just sleeping_?" Celena made a fake gasp and put a hand daintily in front of her mouth.

"Right, you'd think so." Dilandau replied, finally looking up at her with a slow smile. "But seeing as I was looking forward to seeing you today, I've managed to contain myself."

Celena stopped walking altogether. "So you're saving yourself for me? How romantic." She said with a grin, tugging at the waist of his pants.

"Hey, hey! We're still in public, you know." Dilly said, pretending to look around the empty streets. He leaned closer as her pointer fingers tucked in his waistband, touching skin. "Gee, I didn't think you'd be the kinky type and all. And here I was hoping for a challenge." He sighed, facing away dramatically.

She pulled him closer with the tug of pants. "Yeah yeah, I'm sure you had a strategy all figured out."

Dilly smiled down at her again, the space between them not so great. "If you're not gonna shut up and get the action started, then I guess I'm supposed to, right?"

He was cut off as she claimed the space and him. Somewhere a porch light turned on.

**xoxo**

Millerna quietly slipped the covers off her body, trying to cause as little movement as possible, so the other occupant wouldn't be disturbed. She sighed after this task was accomplished without him noticing. Then she proceeded to slip herself off the side of the bed, the brightness of the morning sun blinding her temporarily, the light bouncing off the crisp white sheets and comforter.

She stood up and tried to straighten out her clothes, glancing at the mirror on his dresser. Her normally perfect blonde hair was out of place as it usually got when she was roused from sleep.

'The time!' She mouthed to herself, spinning around to try and find a clock. It was found, but unfortunately the view was obstructed by Allen's hand on top, which he'd obviously done to turn off the alarm that she didn't hear.

Glancing in the mirror once more, and shrugging off her... off appearance, Millerna turned and walked out of the room, sneaking into the bathroom and hoping no one else in the house was awake.

After that, she realized she had on the same crappy clothes from yesterday, the clothes she normally wouldn't be caught wearing outside of her house. That, and her shoes were still in Allen's room. She walked back in quietly to find them on the floor near his bed, near his side of the bed.

The blonde teen tiptoed her way through the room to slip into them and was about to turn away when something shot out and grabbed her wrist. She turned down to see him looking back up at her with one eye open and the rest of his face buried in the pillow.

She stared a moment, and since he didn't verbalize anything she didn't know what to address.

_Although he hadn't questioned her further, or started a hostile confrontation, Allen wasn't sure he actually wanted company. Her company mostly, seeing as she had been in his head all day already. He watched as she walked into his house comfortably, glancing around at the living room and taking slow, deliberate steps._

_Millerna was just glad she'd tucked away his address in her memory when they first started the project together, otherwise she'd be wandering the streets until morning. And even though she'd been looking for Hitomi or Dilandau, a part of her didn't really want to be around anyone. She did want to be alone for a while, gather her thoughts and all. Yet the prospect seemed so... lonely, and another part of her didn't want to be completely by herself._

_So when she walked into the warm, comforting room, no more soft breezes that made her shiver despite the seventy degree weather, Millerna was okay with the fact that her dead last, last resort was where she'd ended up. But still, that was only the room, the house itself that made her feel better. Who knew what Allen was thinking?_

_She turned back to look at him over her shoulder. Allen was still standing by the front door, hand on the knob after closing it. Millerna waited for him to ask her, what was she doing, what did she want, something with a mocking or distasteful tone._

_Allen blinked, opening his eyes bigger to realize something. "Wait here a sec." He said, walking up the stairs with purpose as his 'guest' stared around blankly. He quietly crept up the stairs and down the hall, knocking softly on one door in particular before opening it slowly and then sighing._

_Millerna was just sitting down on a sofa, which already had a blanket draped over it as if it'd just been used. Then she heard Allen come pounding down the stairs._

_"No one's home." He stated, more to himself._

_For a second Millerna felt everything in her being slide out her body and to the floor. But she took a breath and realized his tone had been more questioning, as if he didn't know what was going on. She watched him stride past her and into the kitchen. He came back a moment later with a thoughtful look._

_"No note." He mumbled, coming up beside her, still standing. "And Celena's not home either." Allen shrugged off the feeling, telling himself she must've gotten bored and went for a walk, or maybe to get something to eat at one of the food places just a few blocks away. Though he was sure to lecture her about strolling around late at night by herself._

_And finally, after enough thought had been put into everything else, he looked down at Millerna, and she glanced back up as well. She shivered and looked away._

_Not quite sure what to do, or how to start, Allen watched her a bit longer. Then, "My room... it's upstairs. You know, in case someone gets home soon." He said cautiously, waiting for a response._

_Millerna let the thought sink in, quickly. Then nodded and stood up, still gazing at the floor, and began walking to the stairs. She barely noticed that she was the one leading the way, until they got to the top and she was once again staring around the hallway as if she'd never seen white walls before._

_Allen continued past, disappearing into one of the rooms and waiting for her to follow along. And he closed the door behind her, with a lock softly clicking into place._

Millerna bent down by the bed and he let go of her wrist, still tired. She only whispered three words to him softly.

"I'll see you."

She leaned in, gave him a peck on the cheek and left, not looking back once.

**xoxo**

She looked up as a thump was heard. The blonde glanced around, then realized that the sound hadn't come from her room.

Celena got out of bed, now wide awake, and slowly headed to her door. She briefly looked at the clock, telling her it was about ten something in the morning. She was slightly calmed by this, thinking who the hell would want to commit a robbery at this hour.

She cautiously pulled open the door to peek out. There she witnessed another blonde girl trying to sneak her way down the stairs. Since she barely glimpsed the girl and only saw the back of her head, Celena assumed from the room she'd just exited, it was just Allen's company.

She shuddered at the thought of whatever her brother did in his down time. 'Thank god I didn't hear anything when I got in last night.' She thought, closing the door again and locking it securely.

With that the younger Schezar sibling headed back to her bed to snuggle in the sheets, the warmth of it reminding her of another comfortable place. She smiled through the blanket.

He was sweet to her. And Celena wasn't exactly experienced when it came to relationships and guys, so she found herself thinking how lucky she was that her first anything wasn't with a _complete_ jerk.

Sure, there hadn't been anything concrete between kisses and embraces. No real confession in the form of words anyway. The parting may have been a little awkward too.

But then she had no idea how awkward the day after would be.

**xoxo**

"Time to wake up sleeping beauty!" Someone said, bursting through the door with a grin.

The person being addressed groaned loudly, turning away from the intruder. "...need a dead bolt or something..." He mumbled, still half-asleep.

"Come on man! The weekend's flying by and there's so much you need to do!" The blue-haired man said again, still holding onto the doorknob.

Van didn't respond at all. He was in fact on his way back to dreamland.

"Oh shit!" Folken said, suddenly making an 'oh no' face and turning to peer down the hallway. "Hitomi's here already!" He said.

Van just frowned, trying not to make a sound.

"Dude, you've got ten minutes." And with that Folken strutted out of the room, closing the door behind him.

Two whole minutes after this departure, the dark-haired teen rolled out of bed and tried to slip to the bathroom without being noticed. When he came out another five minutes later and walked into the kitchen to see his family eating breakfast, Van wished he wasn't so gullible.

Folken was grinning at his great acting, and also the fact that Van believed him.

"You're up early for a Sunday morning." Varie commented from where she stood at the counter.

"Yeah, just couldn't get back to sleep." Van replied, glaring at one person in particular as he made his way to a chair.

After the relatively quiet meal, where Merle wasn't as energetic as usual and Van was more irritable than yesterday, everyone headed off to their separate corners for the day. Except Folken, who followed his younger brother into his room.

Van went about fixing his bed and tidying up his room in the slightest way, ignoring his older brother's stare and folded arms. Then he grabbed a pair of headphones and hopped onto the bed.

Before putting them on and blocking out the world though, Van sighed and looked up. "What?" He asked, annoyed.

Folken shrugged, now leaning against a wall. "Is that what you're gonna do all day?"

Van raised a brow. "Well was there something else you had in mind?"

He pushed off from the wall and walked closer. "As a matter of fact-"

"No." Van said, flat out refusing something he didn't even know of yet.

"You haven't even heard it." Folken argued.

"Have you ever come up with a good idea?" The teen asked with a look. The two took a moment to reflect on all the dumb plans and schemes older-brother Folken had ever come up with when they were younger and Van was eager to follow every order.

The older male sighed at this, shaking his head with a small smile. "No, that's not the kinda thing I meant." He attempted to put on a serious face. "What happened last night, man?"

Van jerked back in response, surprised. "What happened with what, _man_?" He shot back.

Folken walked around the room to sit on a chair in the corner. "Hitomi came over to spend time with you and you blew her off so she could sit with us instead!"

The teen looked away with dark eyes. "What are you? An idiot?"

"No, I just pretend to be one." Folken automatically replied with a sarcastic tone.

"She did _not_ come to see me. She came because _you guys_ practically begged her." Van said, leaning back against the headboard of his bed.

"Okay, let's go along with that then." Folken nodded, looking up in thought even as he spoke. "But then you completely ignored her all night and holed yourself in your room. How do you think she felt?"

"Probably didn't realize I was gone." Van responded, thinking back.

"Tch, yeah right. I saw her head into your room twice last night. What'd she say?" Folken questioned.

"Nothing. None of your business anyway."

"What the hell are you doing man? That's not the way to win a girl over."

"That's not what I'm trying to do." Van said, gritting his teeth as he looked up at his brother. "Did you not get the message? She's not interested and I wasn't even sure what I wanted anyway. Nothing's there. Nothing's gonna happen."

"So wait, that's it? You're giving up? Are you a Fanel or not?" The blue-haired man made a face.

"What is there to do? She wants to go back and pretend we're still friends, just friends and I can't. So what's the point in even looking at her now?"

The surprise on Folken's face made him pause. "So you're gonna ignore and avoid her for forever now?" He got up from the chair, circling the bed and giving Van a weird look.

Van just shrugged his shoulders, reaching back for the forgotten headphones next to him.

"Bad idea, man. You're gonna lose her for good that way." Folken shook his head, walking out the door.

Van sighed, staring around the room instead of hitting play right away.

**xoxo**

"What is it?" She asked sleepily, inaudible through the covers.

No one replied, but a second later another tentative knock resounded. Hitomi barely acknowledged it with a 'hmm' before the door was opened and someone slipped in, shutting it after.

Hitomi strained her ears to identify the person, with her eyes still shut and head buried in pillows. Finally she lifted herself up slightly to look around.

"Millerna?" She questioned, looking at the girl sitting by her desk.

"Hey." She waved slightly.

"What're you doing here?" Hitomi asked again, turning over in the bed and rubbing her eyes a little.

"I was just in the neighborhood." Was her response. "And I didn't want to go home." She confessed.

Hitomi regained herself and sat up in bed, turning to eyes the blonde. "Looks like someone let themself go." She joked.

Millerna looked down at herself. Then she glanced back and shrugged. "Well I didn't have time to change clothes before I left." She answered, thinking to the night before.

The younger girl jumped out of bed. "Hold on a sec." Then she headed for the bathroom, coming out a few minutes later. "It's... kind of early." Hitomi said, looking to the clock as she walked back into the room. "What're you doing up?"

At this more direct question, the girl bit her lip. "Well... you see..."

Hitomi stared. "Oh no, what happened?" She immediately asked, walking over quickly. "You want anything to drink or eat?" She crouched before the other girl.

Millerna thought this through, then let out a big sigh. "Yeah."

The other just grabbed her hand and they were already starting down the stairs. "Smells like my mom's making pancakes already."

"Morning girls." The two looked up as they entered the kitchen as the voice cheerily greeted them.

"Mom it's too early to be that happy." Hitomi responded, rolling her eyes as Millerna and her took a seat at the table.

The blonde managed to smile weakly and keep up a cutesy conversation with the two others in the room. She tried to enjoy the meal and control her nervous tremble. But the minutes went by and soon the two girls were walking back into Hitomi's room.

"You can lie down if you want." Hitomi suggested, closing the door behind her. She then walked to a corner and slowly turned on the radio to a station with soft melodies and voices to drift around. "Good?" She turned to Millerna who was sitting at the edge of the bed. Hitomi walked over and took a seat next to her. "You okay?"

"I just... don't want to go home yet." Millerna stated, staring at the space in front of her.

Hitomi leaned forward and watched the older girl's face. "You... wanna talk?"

Millerna turned her head to look at Hitomi.

_The first thing, only thing Millerna did once the door closed was striding over to the bed after spotting it in all its unmade, just-been-used glory. She climbed in and laid down, her back to him._

_Allen looked up after locking the door, his hand lingering on the knob. His eyes drifted lower and the thought of getting back to sleep was very appealing. Even if there was a well built blonde female in his bed already._

_He thought about asking her what was going on, but then she didn't seem very talkative. Instead of going back to the comfort of sheets, Allen walked to the savvy, swivel desk chair and took a seat. Resting an elbow on the armrest and putting the hand to his chin in a thoughtful pose, he stared at her._

_"You know, that hour is ticking by. So all you wanted was to sleep?" Allen finally questioned._

_Millerna let her eyes fly open, wishing he hadn't broken the silence. "I don't know." She mumbled, barely being heard. "Stop... talking." She said, sighing between._

_He stared at her back, tracing the curve of her spine and legs with his eyes. "No asking questions, then? Alright, fine." He replied rhetorically, not sure if she was still listening to him. "It must be past your bedtime." He said in a low voice, trying not to disturb her much. "Though why you aren't in your own bed..."_

"_Mm..." She made a sound, sounding tired. "Why aren't __**you**__ in your own bed?" She shot back._

"_Probably because someone's already sleeping in it." Allen replied amused, his face and voice showing as much. "Like that story, right?"_

_There was a pause filled with slow breathing. "So?" Millerna replied. "I'm not banning you from it, am I?"_

_The boy chuckled. "I guess you have a point there. It is my bed, and I am still tired."_

_Millerna listened, with eyes shut, as he walked over, feet padding against the hardwood floor beneath them. Allen slowly crawled onto the bed like a lion stalking its prey, even hovering over her figure for a moment as he slid his feet under the covers and adjusted. She let out a breath when he was settled and hadn't touched her once._

_When she was comfortable with the idea that she was in __**bed**__ with a guy, Allen none-the-less, the girl started to drift off a little. Her mind wandered around with her eyes searching through his room, the side she was facing at least, without moving._

_Allen, was less caring than usual, in two different ways. First, he wasn't all that interested in her distress at the moment. And then he didn't care because he was still lethargic and tired from being woken up, so trying to hit on her or push her just didn't seem worth it._

_"We're in the same grade, right?" Millerna suddenly questioned._

_The random thought surprised him. "Junior." He stated._

_"Junior." She agreed, then went silent._

_"So... really, you just want an hour or do you need to spend the night?" Allen asked._

_"I can't-" She said haltingly. "Spending an entire night..."_

_The boy rolled his eyes. "It's not such a big thing, if you don't look at it that way." He turned over and grabbed something. "Look, I'll even put on the alarm for tomorrow. Seven o'clock, right?" And then put it back on the end table._

_Millerna sighed and turned over to face him now. "Yea, I guess..." But looking at him dead on proved to be difficult, so she sat up instead, now looking around the other side of the room._

_She tried not to think about her family, all of her family, and how they were doing at the moment. Everyone was probably upset. Well, everyone that was there anyway. The girl shook her head slightly, barely noticeable. She closed her eyes, coaxing herself not to cry again. It wasn't even worth it._

_Allen lay on the pillow with his hands behind his head, and watched her out of the corner of his eyes. Normally, he would've rolled his eyes at her display of weakness, even though it may be inappropriate. But he just watched quietly, admiring the view. He had to admit... there was something about her. Elegant and beautiful, like a great work of art, something that looked like a few simple brushstrokes but underneath there was more._

_He mentally shook his head, closing his eyes. He was already regretting this. And then he could he could feel vague pieces of random daydreams that had played through his head come back to him._

_In any case, she had put her head back down on the pillow, this time closer to him than they both realized. And they fell asleep._

**xoxo**

He lazily opened an eye, a hand laid across his face and forehead, palm up. He groaned at the brightness in the room. After memories rushed back, Dilandau was slowly closing his eyes again. Getting in so late last night and then waking up before noon wasn't a good idea.

Then his eyes shot open and he grinned up at the ceiling.

'I gotta see her.'

**xoxo**

Allen was brought back to the world of the living from the sounds coming from downstairs. After mustering the energy to pick himself out of bed and fixing himself up in the bathroom he headed downstairs.

"Hmm." He mumbled, walking into the kitchen. "Hello baby sister." Allen said as he passed her, putting a hand on her head playfully.

"Morning big brother." Celena replied, staring impatiently at the toaster. "There aren't any eggs." She grumbled, folding her arms and looking childlike with a pout.

He just shook his head and sat down at the table. "So you're making what?" He asked, chin in a palm.

"Poptarts." She replied, licking her lips unconsciously. "Strawberry. Yummy."

"You sound like Van." He rolled his eyes.

"So..." She went on, sliding a hand across the counter as she paced. "What'd you do yesterday? And sorry about that, leaving late and not telling you."

He snapped to attention as the toaster shot up loudly. "Yeah about that." The two looked at each other seriously. "Don't ever do that again." The moment passed. "I mean, if you got slaughtered by some weirdo trying to resurrect his dead girlfriend or something what would I tell mom and dad?"

Celena stared a second longer than necessary. "That was an... oddly specific example."

"You think that's specific? Wait till you see what he's doing to your toes while you're dying of blood loss." Allen said, looking away in a bored fashion.

She shivered. "Allen, shut up!" Celena went to grab her breakfast while her brother snickered in the background. "Creep."

As the girl came to sit down at the table, her brother got up to make himself some coffee and toast.

"So, who was that?" Celena asked through a bite she was chewing.

"Who?" Allen asked back, still opening cabinets in search of sugar.

"The girl. I saw her leaving your room this morning. You didn't decide to do something x-rated last night when you found out I wasn't home, did you?" She shuddered, though commending herself for approaching the topic.

Allen didn't let his surprise show. "No. No, it was just a friend of mine. She needed a place to stay for the night, that's all." He was walking to the refrigerator for milk.

"Oh." She said, taking another bite.

"So, who were you out with last night anyway? Unless you were walking around in the middle of the streets late at night by yourself..." Allen trailed off, making her shudder again. He sat down again with his cup, waiting for the toast.

Celena smacked his arm. "Thanks. Now I won't sleep tonight. And no I was not alone." She shot back with a look. "I was with a friend." She said, thinking back.

Then the doorbell rang.

**xoxo**

"Wow." She stared. "Are you okay? Wait, okay that was stupid." She smacked her forehead. "So... when are you gonna go home then? You can't avoid it forever. I'll even come with you if you want." Hitomi said soothingly.

Millerna sighed and moved to lay down in her friend's bed. "No, it's okay. I've gotta go back sometime. And I do need to clear things up by myself anyway."

They both quieted and thought things over.

"So where'd you stay last night?" Hitomi asked suddenly.

The blonde froze up, though it had been anticipated. "Well... you weren't home. And neither was Dilandau. And let's face it, I really don't socialize with any other people my age. So... I went to Allen's house." She closed her eyes, expecting a lecture.

"Allen? Uh... was he... sympathetic to your... situation? He let you stay the entire night?" The younger girl asked, staring blankly.

"Yea, he did. Strange as it sounds he wasn't a complete jerk." Millerna responded, thinking back. She spaced off, remembering.

Hitomi watched the blonde carefully, not saying what was on her mind.

Millerna blinked suddenly, coming back to the present time, and with her cheeks tinted slightly. "I think... I must be crazy." She shook her head to herself.

The other girl sat patiently on the chair, her computer making its usual noise behind her. "You..."

Millerna didn't hear her. "He's not so bad, I guess. Or maybe it was just the situation and he felt sorry for me, who knows. He was... comforting." She said, partly to herself.

"Millerna." Hitomi said in a stern voice. "You need to go home. Soon. Or at least call and tell them you're alive. Your mom and sisters are going to be mad and they might have even overreacted to you running out."

The blonde stared blankly, curling up in the blanket with her head on a pillow. "I'm not sure... that I care anymore." She replied, her soft voice becoming cold.

"Look, why don't I call and tell them then? You can say you spent the night here and I'll reassure them, okay?" Hitomi tried again, pleading.

She sat up in the bed. "No. You're right. I think I'll go home first." Millerna eased herself out of the bed.

Hitomi watched. "First?"

**xoxo**

"Van?" She questioned.

He ignored her strange look and walked into the house, catching the smell of food and going for the kitchen. He took a seat before Allen noticed.

"Good morning to you too." Celena said grumpily, reentering the kitchen. "Hungry?"

"No." He mumbled, folding his arms and putting his feet on the table, away from the food. "Early morning."

"You're lucky your shoes aren't on." Allen said threateningly from where he stood by the counter.

"Are we?" Celena questioned, taking her own seat again. She grinned at the dark-haired boy, who did the same back at her.

Van shook his head, trying not to laugh. "So where are your parents?" He asked, looking at Allen.

The older boy just shrugged. "Who knows? Apparently they're hitting the mid-life crisis, so they act more like teenagers than we do." He motioned to Celena and himself.

"Speaking of being home..." Celena said in-between her bites. "Why aren't you there? It's too early for the antics you and Allen will rustle up."

Van's smile turned into a scowl. "Folken's been bugging me since the moment _he_ woke me up."

"Aww." Allen made a mocking face. "And you've only got him for another week."

"So anyway," Van rolled his eyes as Celena watched blankly. "I decided to come over and see how my best friend is doing."

"He had a girl in his room." Celena responded. She looked between the two after swallowing. "Oops." She made a sheepish face to Allen's twitchy eyebrow and Van's obvious display of interest. "I mean... a friend of his needed a place to stay for the night." She said again, looking bored as if she were reading the words off something.

"And nothing happened?" Van asked, eyebrows raised.

Allen shrugged. "She cried." He said nonchalantly, as a joke.

_When he woke up again, it was two in the morning and her body was curled up next to his. Allen, to his own surprise, turned to face her and moved an arm over her in a somewhat comforting gesture. She made a sound and he looked down to find her eyes wide open; she'd been awake for a while now._

_"Did you sleep at all?" He asked, trying not to sound like he'd just woken up._

_"Yea." She mumbled. "Wish I was in my own bed."_

_"Then why aren't you?" He asked, still in a sleepy daze. His eyes snapped open though, when he realized he was broaching on a certain area and she'd sat up suddenly._

_"Because." She stated firmly. "I opened something I shouldn't have, and now I can't go back."_

_He nearly groaned out loud at her metaphor talk and stared up at the ceiling. "So I guess this means you're not in the mood to-"_

_"Actually... I'm kind of thirsty." She stated, then glanced back with a pointed look._

_Allen blinked. "What? You know where the kitchen is." He said, not getting it._

_Millerna rolled her eyes. "What if your family's home now or something? It __**is**__ late enough."_

_The boy just rolled his eyes again, and then rolled out of the bed. "Right, one glass of water. Anything else while I'm up, princess?" He asked, stretching and looking at her through lazy eyes. He meant to sound sarcastic, but the term of endearment came out too... __**nice**__. For both of them._

_And he left right after saying it so it was forgotten._

_But then Millerna got up to go to the bathroom. So she had to use the spy skills she had never acquired to sneak through the hallway. The blonde stared in the mirror, figuring this was as much sleep as she was prepared to get tonight, seeing as she should probably leave and find something to do. Maybe spend the rest of the night, and perhaps half of the next day at Hitomi's house instead._

_She quickly tiptoed back to his room and went poking around it. It wasn't as messy as she'd expected. Sure, there was the occasional book or shirt on the floor, the desk was pretty clean and she figured he probably only went on the computer because he didn't seem like the homework type. Other than that, the only thing really disheveled was the bed, so he probably spent most of his time elsewhere._

_Her curiosity was quelled soon enough and she was back to sitting on the bed with nothing to do but wait. And wait. And wait._

_'Where is he? How long does it take to get a glass of water?' She thought, frustrated. 'What if something happened? What if he fell down the stairs or-' She paused. 'But then I would've heard... tch, and he deserves it anyway.'_

_Five minutes passed before the door swung open again and Allen walked in with a glass of water and a plate._

_"Where were you?" Millerna questioned with a stern look._

_Allen chuckled, handing her the glass and holding the plate too high for her to see the contents. "Why? Were you getting freaked out you would get caught by my parents or something?" He sat down on the bed, leaning back against the headboard and began eating. "Or maybe," He paused after chewing and swallowing. "You missed my company, right?" He grinned before shaking his head at his own joke and continuing to eat._

_Millerna raised a brow and leaned over. "What're you eating?"_

_"Eggs." He responded. At her disgusted face, he went on. "Hey, I went to the bathroom before I went downstairs. So yes, I brushed my teeth."_

_"It's two in the morning!" She said. A little too loudly. Allen shushed her, though not really concerned. She closed her mouth and didn't continue._

_"So what?" He answered anyway. "I'm hungry, and eggs are the easiest thing to make."_

_"Well then why didn't you make me some?" She asked, putting on a sweet face._

_Allen glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. "Uh... ran out of eggs."_

_"You liar!" Millerna said, hitting him with a pillow._

_"Hey, hey!" He tried to block the attack. "Wait till I'm done at least!"_

_"Then it would have no relevance!" She argued._

_"It would if you just reminded why you hit me." He countered._

_Millerna went quiet and let her eyes examine the sheet between her fingers. "As much as it pains me... to say this." Allen was already grinning at her words, though for once he had no perverted thoughts on the matter. "Thank you, for letting me stay. For just letting me in the house, when I've been kind of... bitchy."_

_He opened his mouth to say something he would probably regret later, but she anticipated his smart remark and prevented this._

_"Even though," She started again, her voice loud at the beginning. "Even though you have been jerky and an asshole." She looked at him seriously, giving another look._

_The blonde boy put down the empty plate on his end table and put his hands up in mock surrender. "And for the record." He started, and she thought he was going to say something profound like she had. "I'm pretty sure jerky isn't a word." Millerna sighed at him in hopelessness. "Unless you mean jerky, like the food." Allen went on and she smacked his arm with a mumbled 'shut up!'_

**xoxo**

"Hello?"

She looked around, then slowly and quietly closed the door behind her. Luckily the back door that led straight into the kitchen... was open. It was obvious she didn't grab her keys on her way out the night before.

Millerna slowly tiptoed around the house, noting how neat the kitchen looked, considering their celebration the previous day. Not only that but it also seemed very empty, which was also very odd for the fact that there were supposed to be three, now four, females in the house.

The blonde looked around cautiously before making her way through the room and towards the front of the house. No one was in the living room and it was also in an organized state.

"What if they aren't even home?" Millerna whispered to herself, gazing around. She turned and was about to head upstairs when she caught sight of someone at the top of the landing. "You-" She stopped short after realizing who it was. "Marl-"

"Shh." The person said, quickly coming down the stairs and dragging Millerna back into the living room.

"Where are-" Millerna tried to start again, only to be cut off once more.

"Eries and Mom?" Marlene questioned brusquely. She walked around and opened curtains to let light flow in. "Mom's still sleeping, I think. And Eries went out for a jog an hour ago."

Millerna found it hard not to gape in surprise. "Are you sure? I thought they'd be-"

Marlene turned around abruptly. "What, Millerna? Scouring the neighborhood for you?" She shot her sister a withering look before silently moving towards the kitchen. "They don't even know you were out all night. When Mom got up the nerve to ask about you later last night I told her you just got in and were probably in your room. I made sure to tell her and Eries not to bother disturbing you until you cooled off."

The younger sibling stared, unable to comprehend all the lies made in one night, over her. "So they didn't- No one knew I was gone?" She asked again, incredulously.

Marlene, who was just filling water into a kettle, promptly put it down on the counter and turned to glare at her sister. "No." She said evenly. "But I did. So who do you think was freaking out and worrying and pulling at their hair all night?" She asked venomously. "Not you, I'm sure." She turned back to fixing herself tea.

Millerna inched her way into a seat and watched her older sister quietly, wishing the Sunday morning would just pass by and the quietness wasn't so eerie. She stared at her sister's back as she moved around.

"I thought you'd still be upset about last night." Millerna spoke suddenly.

This time Marlene didn't bother turning around, stirring a spoon around in her mug slowly. "Of course I'm still upset. But you running off to who knows where doesn't help anyone, now does it?" She put down the mug and turned back to Millerna. "I mean, what the hell were you thinking?" Her voice demanded, quiet but harsh. "Who was going to benefit from making us all worry? And I had to clean up the mess you made before anything got worse. No one would've had any guess as to where you ran off to! I mean, we don't even know who you hang out with nowadays."

Millerna watched, trying not to get teary eyed from all the guilt and the words her sister was spewing. But slowly, she started to get angry after a few lines. "Yeah, because I was the wild child bent on making my parents life hell while suffering through my teenage angst years. I'm not like you and Eries." Millerna shot back with a glare of her own.

"This has nothing to do with me and Eries right now. No one shoved you out the front door and told you to ditch us." Marlene argued, keeping her voice low.

"Me? Me?! You're talking about ditching who?" Millerna asked back angrily. "I think you're talking to the wrong person here, if you've already forgotten." She watched as Marlene was about to say something else but cut in before she could. "And what are you talking about, me causing trouble? Cuz it was just all my fault, right? All-my-fault!" She said loudly, saying the three words slowly. "I'm the one here making straight A's, along with wielding too-many extra-curricular activities and still coming home to do the laundry and dishes and clean every stupid room here!"

She paused and the two stared at each other hard for a moment.

Millerna went on. "And now, I'm already in line to get married? Isn't that just wonderful! Am I really all that useless to this family? I mean, I know mom's busy working for like twelve hours a day sometimes and you and Eries are just all too busy with your own lives. Do you really think I'm 'hanging out' with some bad crowd already or something? You think my future's gonna go up in smoke before I finish high school so I'm interviewing guys to have kids with now?"

"Millerna, be quiet. Mom's sleeping." Marlene stated, her eyes narrowed dangerously at her younger sister.

"She kept something from us for six years! And you're worried about the one night I spent outside of the house?" Millerna questioned, her voice still loud but she quieted suddenly. "You have no idea how long I spent trying to- to- make things right here since that asshole left. You and Eries basically left right after, a year sure but that wasn't long enough."

"Stop it!" Marlene whispered harshly. "Go upstairs and get some sleep or take a shower. We'll take about things later. But don't come back down here with more words ready to upset everyone. Think about what you say and do."

Millerna gazed at her sister for a moment. "You have no idea." She said before turning around and making her way to her room, slowly and quietly.

**xoxo**

"What're you-" She asked in surprise after looking up to find him there.

"Shh." He said with a grin, pulling her outside and closing the door.

"Who is it?" She heard Allen call.

"My friend, I'm going out for a walk." Celena called back, hoping her brother and Van didn't lean over to catch a glimpse of Dilandau who now stood in front of her. After the door was closed, with her still looking over her shoulder, she sighed and turned around.

Only to be pressed back against the door in lip lock. Which she fell into despite her aversion to PDA.

After a minute Celena pushed him back, her hands squarely on his chest. "I. Will. Kill you. Before. They do." She stated slowly, looking up at him with her head still bent down slightly. "What're you doing here?" She questioned urgently, looking around them before grabbing his hand and moving to the backyard.

Dilandau shrugged. "Just wanted to see you, that's all." He let Celena drag him, their hands still clasped. He grinned at this but didn't say anything.

"Yeah and you're lucky you still have your eyes in tact." She whispered, watching all the windows carefully before plopping down in a lawn chair.

He shrugged and did the same. "So we're just gonna hide from Allen forever? He's your brother and a... friend of mine." Dilandau twisted up his face as he spoke these words.

Celena stopped herself from laughing, sure it would only attract attention. "Well not forever. I mean, when the relationship fizzles out we won't have to worry!" She replied cheerfully, leaning back in the chair.

Dilandau pretended to glare at her. "I would really be making you pay for that right now if you weren't so worried about being 'discovered'." He said, using finger quotes.

She just ignored him and lay back lazily, sporting a random pair of shorts and t-shirt.

**xoxo**

"Since when does Celena have friends?" Van asked, looking up at his friend. "I thought we were all she needed." He said with a grin.

Allen shrugged. "I have no idea. But as long as she's fitting in and all that stuff I guess it doesn't matter."

"As long as it's the right crowd, right? Isn't that what you were gonna say?" Van questioned with his know-it-all look and a mocking tone.

The blonde crumpled a napkin and threw it at his friend, missing as he ducked. He continued taking a bite of his toast and ignored him.

"So who was here last night?" Van asked again, staring his best bud down.

Allen suppressed the groan that was so unlike him. "No one. Just a friend-"

"What?" Van threw his feet back on the ground and sat forward with 'shock' on his face. "I thought I was your only friend!" He shouted in outrage.

"This is why I haven't invited you over in a while." Allen said, making an annoyed face.

"You want us to have time apart?" Van asked in disbelief. "Yeah right." Then he smiled and discarded his goofy charade. "Seriously, who's the girl in your life this time?"

He just shook his head. "Nobody important."

"Yet." Van added.

Allen regarded these words carefully in his head. "Who knows." He said out loud.

_Millerna looked up to find him smiling at her in what she realized was a sincere, non-suggestive way. He was just... just smiling. So she smiled back slowly._

_Allen, although in a good place at the moment, knew it wouldn't last. And he intended to get to the bottom of things. Before she left and never spoke to him again or something, he'd find out. Even though he'd rather reach out and touch her._

_"Look," He started, looking away and leaning back again. "We should talk."_

_Millerna froze in place, her smile though, looked out of place with the fear in her eyes. She let her face slip off into neutral territory. "What about?"_

_Allen looked up at the ceiling, hands fiddling in his lap. "Something bad must've happened to you, huh? Why else would you be running door to door for a place to stay for the night? What happened?" He questioned, looking directly at her._

_She opened her mouth, about to say something, trying to change the subject, but paused and sighed instead. Millerna laid back down on the bed, facing him, but not looking up at him. "Yeah, guess so. But we don't need to talk about it. It's my stuff and it doesn't matter to you." She stated._

_He stared at her, then looked away, back to the ceiling. And normally he would have kept his thought process to himself, but decided to just say it out loud instead. "You know... you're kind of right." He stopped. "And I guess with me being such a jerk, you wouldn't wanna tell me anyway. So how about you pretend I'm someone you want to talk to?"_

_Millerna raised a brow. "And what? You'll pretend that you care?"_

_Allen shrugged as if he didn't care, which was actually farther from the truth._

_"Okay..." She said. He wasn't sure though if she'd just agreed to let him in on her problem. "Well," She started off. "Today... yesterday, was my mom's birthday." Allen nodded, although he was still staring up at the ceiling. "And... my father called."_

_He could already hear some edge seeping into her voice. He guessed that the topic of her dad was something hard to discuss. As much as he didn't want to interrupt, he had to question. "Sorry, I see this is bad timing... but a little background info might help me-"_

_"He left us and my mother for another woman almost six years ago." She cut him off and answered harshly._

_The boy nodded once, only a slight movement of the head. He checked off a few things on his mental list and tried not to let his cynicism get in the way of listening to her._

_"And... well, we haven't heard from him in all that time since he left. Or at least... that's what my sisters and I thought. But I confronted my mother about the message he left on our machine, and it turned out that she had talked to him several times over the years." Millerna tried not to let her face twist up in anger and hurt._

_Allen glanced down and caught her gripping onto the sheets. "Hey, are you okay?" He asked, trying to sound sincere._

_"No, I'm not." She said loudly, sitting up suddenly. "I feel betrayed. And angry. How could she talk to him after everything he did to us? And then, she tells us she stopped him from trying to contact us. You know, not that I'd be eager to talk to him again or anything. But it would've been easier to be angry at him if he knew how much I hate him." She paused and Allen was looking at her in surprise. "But then Marlene sees it differently... but it's because of Chid. I'm not sure if it's just an excuse or not, but she basically said she wishes Chid knew his grandfather. And Eries-"_

_"Hey, slow down." Allen said softly, putting a hand on her shoulder._

_Millerna looked up at him, lost for a moment before she realized she was on the verge of having a mental breakdown. 'Yeah, and aren't those fun.' She thought to herself. "Alright." She took a deep breath. "Okay... well, like I said... I confronted her and brought the truth out. Then we argued. And I left." She paused, glancing to the side. "And Hitomi wasn't home, neither was Dilandau. So I walked around some more to clear my head. It got a little chilly and I really didn't want to have to sleep on a bench somewhere so I came here."_

_"Ah," He started. "So now I've got confirmation that this was your last resort."_

_She blinked. "Oh. Well... What're you getting offended by? Who would blame me?" She argued. "And... you're changing the subject." She accused._

_"Oh? I thought you were done and didn't wanna talk about it anymore." He said, looking at her._

_She looked a little unsure. "Well... I'm not sure. I guess... And that was thoughtful of you." She said, wondering what was happening._

_"But you'd probably prefer a little silence afterwards, to digest it." He stated, almost as if he'd done this before._

_She didn't know how to answer and figured this could count as their silence to make up for before. And he was right. With this she looked back at her words, thinking it over carefully. But what she really ended up thinking about was Allen. And the way he was treating her._

_'I guess I knew he wasn't a complete jerk underneath all that. It's just strange to see him be so nice to me.' She thought to herself._

_Allen let her sort through her thoughts and laid back on the bed, hands behind his head as he stared up._

_"I have a question." She suddenly stated._

_"Go ahead."_

_"How many girls have you slept with?"_

_Allen choked on his saliva before turning to look at her, still sitting up next to him. "W-what?"_

_Millerna slid her body down the bed, her chin on the pillow as she stared back at him. "I'm just wondering because you didn't seem all that uncomfortable with this. You could've had one of us sleep on the couch. Or just told your sister and let me sleep in her room."_

_"She's not even home." He mumbled, closing his eyes and trying to ignore her._

_"Someone's avoiding the question." She said. "__**Have**__ you had sex?" She seemed surprised that the answer might be no._

_"Yes." He said in a low voice. "What does it matter? The kind of sleeping together going on here is completely different so it __**doesn't **__matter."_

_"I dunno. I was just curious. Come on Allen, you're too confident to give me that kind of response."_

_About to answer before she even finished, Allen paused when he heard something. He opened an eye, then the other and turned to look at her._

_Millerna smiled at him sheepishly, her right cheek sinking into the pillow. He watched as she tried to give him her sweetest look possible, even though she was crying. Her smile didn't move or look fake and her eyes were still bright, from tears and something else._

_He reached an arm out and pulled her closer, letting her bury her face into his shoulder, not making a sound even though he knew she wasn't done._

**xoxo**

"What are we doing?" She asked, pulling back, eyes still closed and lips pursed slightly.

"Figuring things out." He replied, pulling her back into a slow, soft kiss.

**xoxo**

A sound was heard and she stared blankly at the wall, tears rolling down her face and onto the pillow. And despite being saddened by the turn of events that had just occurred, she was even more distraught because there wasn't someone there trying to make her better.

**xoxo**

After having a brief chat with her mom and climbing the stairs to reach her room, she closed the door and looked around slowly. Instead of fixing her bed or sitting down on the chair for an hour of the internet, she headed for the window and looked out to stare at the bright, wonderful looking day and resumed worrying about her friend.

"Where the hell is Dilandau?" She asked herself, glancing at the phone that sat on her desk.

**xoxo**

**Wow, oh **damn. I really didn't mean for this chapter to take forever to get out there, and honestly I was feeling like there wasn't much going on here. Yet somehow I ended up with like 9k words… ouch.

**I have no real idea what's going on here. Life just takes forever in moving on, huh? And I meant the story…**

Anyway, thanks for support and everything to everyone out there! Especially for those random stories I've been popping out lately, thank you so much!

Other than that, be good and remember if you wanna see what I'm up to just check my bio/profile page or even send me a random message! Any kind of feedback or response from anyone out there usually gets my brain working up a storm after a slump in writing.

**I LOVE YOU GUYS!! XOXO**

**12-14-07**

**2:56AM**


	24. Chapter 24

12-14-07

10:25pm

**xoxo**

**Title-Are you stalking me?**

**Chapter 24**

**By-Moon Prynces**

**xoxo**

Walking quickly across school grounds, the girl tried to focus on her next class and not worrying about a certain someone.

Easier said than done, of course. Hitomi hadn't heard a word from Millerna for the rest of Sunday and trying to get a hold of Dilandau was futile. Calling the blonde didn't seem like a good idea, so Hitomi waited with a phone by her at all times, even when going to bed the night before.

Now she only hoped to catch a glimpse of her friends before the day was over. In fact, she was wondering if Millerna had made it to school at all that day.

Along the way, a crowd in front of her parted slightly and her eyes caught sight of someone. He was taking his time, staring at the ground with hands stuck in his pockets and had yet to notice as they came closer to approaching each other.

Hitomi put out a hand, ready to wave at him but hesitated so her hand was just up in the air and her face blank. Then he looked up and spotted her. She was forced to complete the hand wave and smile unsurely.

"Hey." Hitomi said cheerfully, masking her uncertainty.

"Hey." Van replied dully as they came closer and finally stopped in front of each other. "What's up?" He asked, although his uncaring attitude made her frown.

"Nothing." She answered.

"Alright." He cut in before she could continue. "I'll see you in class later, right?"

"Sure." Hitomi said, surprised as he brushed past her and kept moving. She turned around and watched him walking steadily away from her. The girl went back on her way, wondering what just happened.

**xoxo**

"Celena!" He called out, getting her attention instantly. She stared as he walked closer. "Hey, what're you up to?" He questioned after getting within arms reach.

"Heading to lunch." She responded. "Are you checking up on me or what?" She asked suspiciously.

Allen shrugged. "No, this is like the third time I've seen you around school since you started here. Be grateful." And with that he playfully messed up his younger sister's hair, annoying her to no end.

"Where's Van? Aren't you two buddies hanging out together anymore? By the way, you two should never spend that much time together while I'm around. I don't need to hear you argue over who has longer eyelashes, okay?" Celena said sweetly, mocking him.

He just made a face. "That was a one time thing!" Allen shook his head to clear the air. "Okay, so where are the friends that you've been hanging out with lately? I know just about everyone that goes to school here so-"

"Uh, sorry." Celena interrupted, feeling nervous. She stared straight ahead as she lied to her brother. "I may have given you the impression that they're _friends_ but technically I'm just hanging out with different people to see where I fit in." She finally turned to him with a smile. "Unlike you I can't just make everybody love me when I step into a room."

Allen laughed. "Sure, whatever. Just stay out of trouble, right? Who do you think will be the one bailing you out when something happens?"

"My favorite brother of course!" Celena said happily.

"Only brother you mean." He countered.

She stopped and turned up to him. "Hey, I've gotta get to class. You've distracted me enough. I'll see you at home then." Celena waved a little as she walked off, but Allen still managed to fuss her hair up even as she tried to duck.

**xoxo**

"Where have you been all weekend?" She all but shouted at him.

Since class had been let out a little earlier than usual, her and her fellow classmates wandered around the school grounds and eventually Hitomi happened upon Dilandau standing outside by the track field. And she told him with an amused look that he looked pretty adorable in his gym uniform, to which he shot her a ticked off look. After that exchange she went back to her earlier topic.

"I tried to get a hold of you a bunch of times! And so did Millerna! We need to talk now!" She stated demandingly.

Dilandau glanced over his shoulder. "I gotta do two laps though. I really need to pass."

Hitomi put down her books, asking a girl to watch them for her. "Okay, then I'll join you." She stated, turning back to him.

He gave her a disbelieving look. "You wanna run two laps when it isn't even going toward your grade for phys. ed.?"

"I really need to talk to you." She replied irritably, grabbing his hand and starting them on a slow jog.

"Jogging and talking is hard to do you know. I'm already getting tired here."

"We've barely spoken yet!"

"Exactly!"

Hitomi stopped short, making Dilly do the same. "Okay fine. We'll just power walk or something. You aren't failing, got it?"

He only nodded, resisting the temptation to salute her with a 'yessir!' as well. So the two set out on a slower trek around the track.

"What is it?" He questioned after the first minute of silence and noticing Hitomi's stern face.

"It's Millerna. And I haven't seen her all day." Hitomi finally let out with a sigh. "And where were you all weekend?" She questioned, looking at the boy.

Dilandau grinned slowly and shook his head. "I was hanging out."

"With?"

"Who said anyone else was involved?"

"Oh, I'm sorry then. I _really _don't wanna intrude on your... 'alone time'." Hitomi commented, then waited.

"I didn't say it was my 'alone time'! And stop saying that! I don't need to have alone time when there are girls always willing to throw themselves at me!" He argued.

"So then you were with a girl?" She asked again.

The boy stared at her before finally sighing. "Okay, but if you jinx this I am going to painfully exact revenge on you." Hitomi just rolled her eyes at his words. "I was with Celena most of the time."

The brunette perked up at this. "Oh, hey, how is she?"

"Just fine." He grumbled, unsure what to say.

Hitomi peered at him carefully, making Dilly squirm at her gaze. "Aww! Is someone blushing?" She teased, poking his face.

Dilandau swatted at her hand. "Hey, I don't blush!"

"What're you talking about? You're as pale as snow! You're easily susceptible to it!" Hitomi argued back. "So what'd you guys do all weekend?" She asked again with a smile. When he grinned he made a horrified face. "Ok, nevermind."

"I'm insulted that you would assume such things Ms. Kanzaki. When did you get such a dirty mind?"

The two paused for a second.

"So what's up with Millerna this time? I didn't think she had such a troubled life and all that but she seems to have more drama than the two of us combined." Dilly commented thoughtfully.

"Hey, don't assume things." She said warningly. Then thought about this. "Well actually..."

**xoxo**

Millerna sat down and sighed through her depressed haze. She smiled weakly at a few girls that passed by her seat with greetings.

The period passed by and the blonde concentrated on taking notes and learning the material instead of focusing on the ulcer she was probably getting from all the worrying and stress.

The fact that she hadn't spoken to any of her family members since blowing up at Marlene Sunday morning only added to this. And Millerna could hardly believe she'd said all that, then just regretted it after. She couldn't handle being on bad terms with most people.

Her father being an exception because... well, she hadn't had contact with him in so long. And then there was Allen.

The biggest pain in her side had yet to be seen all day and she was dreading class with him. Not just that she was worried he'd spill all her secrets, but it would most likely be awkward to try and not remember the events of Saturday night/Sunday morning-ish hours while trying to talk to each other.

She also hadn't spotted Hitomi or Dilandau yet either. Which she didn't mind all that much, she didn't feel like talking about things right now. And although she did appreciate their concern she needed to keep her head clear and calm down somewhat before trying to talk about anything more that had happened, or hadn't happened.

A hand rested on her shoulder and Millerna looked up into the concerned eyes of her teacher.

"Are you okay, Millerna? You seem very distracted lately." The older woman said kindly, leaning closer and using a lower, more discrete tone that Millerna was grateful for.

"Y-yeah." She responded uncertainly. "Just... a lot going on." She said with a slightly questioning tone and shrugged sheepishly.

The teacher noticed her student's hesitation on the matter. "Alright, just take it easy. You should be enjoying yourself, you're only a teenager."

Millerna nodded and put on a smile.

**xoxo**

"I love you and all... but this is a bit much." He glanced sideways at his friend.

"What're you talking about?" The blonde's head popped up and he grabbed a paper towel to soak up the water still dripping on his face.

"You look like you're getting ready for a date or something." Van commented, leaning his arm against a wall and looked around the little boy's room carelessly.

"Who told you to follow me in here anyway?" Allen asked, trying not to grin as he tossed the paper.

"Geez, where's Celena when you need a brick wall?" Van asked, shoving a hand into his hair.

"Well, I'm off to see my girlfriend." Allen said as they exited.

"I'll see you later, if the wife lets me out of the cage tonight." Van added with a grin of his own, and they separated.

**xoxo**

"Hey." He said with a nod in her direction, closing in on his seat.

She only looked down for a second before letting out a strangled reply.

And then he took his seat and class started, things seemingly back to normal. The lesson was bland, but managed to keep everyone captivated.

Allen forced himself to pay attention, even scribbled down a few notes on the notebook he grabbed for class. He ignored the blonde hair in front of him and blocked out her sighs. Millerna did the same, focusing for the most part on the academics.

Before they knew it, class had flown by and there had been no interaction between the two whatsoever. Towards the end, the teacher once again reminded everyone of the group assignment that was soon to be due and Millerna made a mental note to finish up everything at home to keep herself occupied.

As she stood and began to gather up her stuff she felt the presence as he also stood and moved closer.

"Hey." He greeted again, less than a foot away. Allen glanced around the quickly emptying room and put a hand through his hair. "I just wanted to make sure you're okay." When she didn't respond right away he leaned to the side to catch a glimpse of her face, just as she turned and stared at him looking at her.

Millerna shrugged carelessly, didn't feel like lying. "Well, it's not like I won't be able to handle it." She stated, shouldering her bag and started to walk away. Allen trailed along awkwardly. "Thanks for asking." She turned back and gave him a small smile.

"You sure are in a hurry to get to class. You want the day to be over that quick?" He questioned as they walked the halls.

The whispers were minimal, some just used to seeing them together after pairing up for that project. A few girls giggled, secretly admiring them, as they looked like a good pair. And people still greeted them both separately, all getting nods and waves and smiles in return.

"I'm just trying to make it through the day." She replied, waving to a group of girls she knew. "And where else do I have to go but back home? If I dread it, it won't help any."

Allen kept his comment to himself, though Millerna knew what he was thinking. They walked in silence for another minute.

"So no more sleepovers?" He questioned jokingly.

She stopped short, making him do the same and he wondered if the subject shouldn't have been broached. Millerna looked up at him. "If you're offering..." She started, a teasing smile on her face and Allen just stared. "Then I would have to pass. I've been in your bed already and it wasn't all that exciting."

Allen gaped. "Hey, don't go insulting my manhood." He managed to say, shaking his head with a grin.

Millerna stared at him, wondering if he would play the knight to her damsel in distress one more time, if it was ever needed. She shook her head. "Where do you have class next?"

He pointed behind him and she glanced over his shoulder a second.

"Same way." She commented and they continued the walk, side by side.

Allen observed her a moment, before an arm encased her shoulders in the protective way he only would have done for Celena.

Millerna sighed in relief. "You're okay, it'll be okay." She whispered to herself.

**xoxo**

He was glomped from behind and glanced back to see her smiling up at him happily.

"You looked like a puppy." He said after she had let go and they were standing face to face.

She smiled sheepishly, sticking out her tongue. "You know, I'm awfully tired. You wanna give me a ride to class?"

Dilandau looked completely befuddled. "Wha?"

"You can even hold my things for me." Celena responded, making a baby face.

"I made out with that?" He asked himself, staring upwards.

She smacked him. "I'm not an alien."

"What if I tip over and we both end up getting injured?" He questioned her, hand on his chin in thought.

"Alright, but I thought you had muscles and worked out and-" Celena screeched in surprise as she was picked up and thrown over his shoulder, as gently as he could manage.

"Where to?" He asked as he began walking.

She fumbled to hold onto her books and lifted herself up slightly. "That way." She pointed in front of her, looking at the trees they'd passed.

Dilandau glanced back and made a U-turn, his legs marching stiffly like a toy soldier. "Okay then."

Celena, still propped up somewhat while still trying to hold onto Dilly and her belongings, watched the people they passed. "Uh... people are staring you know. Ow! My hips hurt here!"

"Hey, my shoulder isn't doing that great either!" He shot back.

"Then put me-" She was once again cut off as he abruptly threw her off his shoulder and onto her feet. Celena, dazed, leaned back to find the support of a wall.

Dilandau grinned and swooped in for a quick peck on the lips. He stared as she tried to be angry with him.

"Thanks, now everyone thinks I'm a cavewoman and I'm dizzy." She looked down. "And all my stuff, I dropped it." She moved to bend forward and started gathering them but Dilandau used a hand to push her shoulder back into the wall.

"Don't I get anything for my trouble? I'm gonna go home with a sore shoulder." He tried to look pitiful.

"And so am I!" She argued and watched him make a pout. She smiled sweetly. "Alright." He started to lean forward but a hand on his chest stopped that. "You can pick up my stuff and hope I don't knee you where-"

"Okay, okay. Geez." Dilandau rolled his eyes and Celena grinned. "Who would want such a Grinch for a girlfriend anyway?" He mumbled, snatching up her books.

"Who wouldn't? I thought the naughtier, the better." She stated, blinking innocently.

Dilandau looked up and slowly grinned. "Good point."

**xoxo**

Hitomi didn't think he could get any better at ignoring her. But he had. Not only was it subtle and unnoticeable to those around them, but it was itching her nerves.

She accidentally scattered a few papers and he'd wordlessly picked up the ones closest to him and handed them over.

She missed laughing with him, and having him make her feel like an unwanted stranger while in his house was the worse thing yet. Nothing that wounded her enough to cry over, but she had been offended and hurt by his behavior as of late.

Sure, she understood he had feelings for her but how was this supposed to be better than... being friends? Okay, in all honesty she couldn't relate because she'd never been in that position before. She'd never had a crush on anyone unless admiring the famous people you would never meet counted as something, which it didn't.

When class ended Hitomi slowly rose from her seat and watched as Van carefully did the same. He nodded to her slowly and turned to leave.

"Why did you give up?" She asked amidst the shuffling of chairs and footsteps.

Van turned back, hands in his jacket pockets, eyebrows raised slightly.

"I wonder..." She said thoughtfully, grabbing the shoulder strap of her bag and dragging it off the desk as she walked closer. "Am I not worth the..." She paused, unsure which word would fit.

His steady voice made her look up into calm-like-water eyes. Hitomi stared, a hand in front of her mouth and feeling herself blush annoyingly. She stared as he turned back and left the room.

After a moment of looking down at the floor with the room empty and lights off she blinked. The noise from outside the open door made her look up again.

_'Who said I gave up?'_

**xoxo**

After the truth was set free, Hitomi made it to class only two minutes late. And then she could barely keep her head out of the clouds long enough to understand anything going on.

Her thoughts weren't coherent and she could feel her temperature rise every few minutes. She was confused, not by what he'd said, but by her own reaction.

'I've never been in this position before.' She realized, turning her head down to write something down. She paused in the task, pen still on paper.

She brought the pen up to her lip in the thoughtful pose. 'I thought none of this would have affected me. I thought... it was nothing. That he'd get over it and...' Her brows furrowed. 'I just wouldn't have to deal with it.' She sighed dramatically, missing another piece of the lesson and not caring.

"Ms. Kanzaki, you look a little lost." A voice interrupted her thoughts.

Hitomi looked around to find the teacher looking at her with an intense gaze. She smiled nervously. "Yeah... I was just thinking, maybe this just isn't my subject." She stated with a sheepish look.

He shook his head, making his way to the front of the room from his position on the side. "Well let's try and help you out with that. Tell me what's confusing you." He said with an encouraging smile and looking back up at her.

"Well... I'm so lost I don't know where to start." Hitomi grabbed the textbook from the top of her desk and kept her nervous smile in tact. Most of the class had turned back to what they were doing.

The teacher, who had been standing behind his desk and leaning over it, pulled back and stood up straight again. "Alright, then I'll start for you. And this should be helpful for those of you who don't have any idea what's been going on the past few days." He grinned, looking around the room.

Hitomi smiled with a 'Sure' and waited until he was back to addressing the whole class again. She sighed in relief and looked down at the book in her hands, fingers tracing the picture on the cover.

"Why me?" She asked herself in a mumble.

Something dawned on her and Hitomi looked up with realization on her face.

'Why _me_?' She asked again in her head, her mind racing.

The brunette stared blankly at the chair in front of her while sorting through her thoughts.

'Isn't that strange.' She thought, slightly amused. 'I didn't see Van as the type to fall for a girl. I didn't see anything past him being a jerk. And I never saw me being the girl that someone wanted.'

She began to put things in perspective and found herself warming up again. A hand on her cheek confirmed that she was blushing once more. And, she found that she was flattered.

'I guess I couldn't dodge romance if it were a paper clip.' She sighed, head in her hands. 'And maybe I should stop trying.'

**xoxo**

The walk home was so familiar and calming that Millerna didn't see it coming until she was already in her house with the door locked behind her.

"I'm-" She started, about to call out but stopped short realizing it wouldn't be the best time, and really, did she want her presence known anyway?

But walking past the living room did just that. She caught sight of her mother and sisters sitting around, watching something, apparently one of the movies that had been rented for the other night.

Millerna stood unsurely by the doorway. Eries looked up and spotted her.

"Hey, you're home." She said, causing Marlene and their mom to notice as well.

Millerna slowly walked into the room, putting her things down on a table nearby. "Yeah, just got in."

"How was school?" Arianna asked, turning back to the TV.

"It was... fine." Millerna responded, taking note of her mom's behavior. She also caught the stare Marlene directed towards her before also turning back to the television. 'Is this how things are gonna be now?' She asked herself. "I still have some things to do for school. And I'm gonna head over to someone's house to work on something later." Millerna went on, looking around.

"Alright. Don't be late. We'll have dinner ready by seven thirty." Arianna responded, not looking over to her daughter. Millerna stared at her mom a second longer, then watched Marlene look in her direction.

Millerna slowly turned away, picking up her things again and heading up the stairs. 'Now I can't leave the house without permission.' She thought. 'Now, when I finally have reasons to go out.'

She quietly closed her bedroom door and dropped everything in a corner before finding it necessary to change out of the constricting clothes and tie her hair up and out of the way.

"Better." She said after pulling on a pair of shorts and t-shirt and sitting down on her bed. "I didn't get a chance to see Hitomi or Dilandau all day." Millerna sighed. "I wonder how things are going."

**xoxo**

The blonde slowly stepped into the room and watched her brother carefully as he sat on the living room couch, watching TV.

"Hey." He said, looking up as he noticed her presence.

"Geez, you stay in all the time now. I would think you'd be out with your mystery girl." She joked, moving towards the sofa.

Allen chuckled. "Are you trying to kick me out?"

Celena looked thoughtful. "No, I'm just wondering if my brother's popularity is still in check. I mean it might come in handy for me someday." She took a seat next to him.

"No need to question such a thing." He waved a hand dismissively. "I'll be infamous even when I do leave high school."

"Don't you mean if?" She joked back. The two shared a laugh before turning back to the TV. Celena watched her brother out of the corner of her eyes. "Actually, I wanted to talk to you anyway, so I guess it's a good thing you're home."

Allen turned to look at his sister. "What's up?"

The girl looked apprehensive, with reason. "I have something to tell you. And... you won't like it." She looked up at his blank expression. "I'm... kind of..." She inched her way off the couch to stand up. "I'm seeing someone. Uh, dating someone." Allen stared on, waiting. "It's Dilandau, you know, even after you told me not to."

"Huh?" He started off, feeling completely out of the loop.

"Yeah... and, well, Van kind of already knows. Well, he knows that there was something going on between us. And he approved, I guess." She went on nervously.

"What does Van have to do with this?" Allen questioned, still confused.

She shrugged. "I'm just saying, Van's a fairly rational human being and he understands."

The two paused to think this over, looking at each other.

"Did you just call Van 'rational' and 'a human being'?" Allen questioned with a twitch of the lips.

Celena made a face and stomped a foot. "Be serious for a second!"

Allen just shrugged and glanced back at the TV. A few more moments passed as he tried to grasp the idea, which wasn't all that hard, he found. Because honestly he should have seen it coming when he first saw them together and warned them to stay away from each other. It was just like a Romeo and Juliet story.

It's just that he wasn't sure how to react to it now. A part of him was too selfish to want to think about someone else's love life other than his own. Playing the big brother card last time didn't seem to do anything either.

And there had to be a reason she wanted to hang around Dilandau. Celena wouldn't just pick up a guy that wasn't worthy. It _was_ Dilandau for that matter, and even though everyone thought he was a badass, Allen always knew him and Van weren't as tough as they liked to pretend to be. Because, hell, he was the same way too.

He turned back to the TV, waving a hand carelessly at his sister. "It's pending." Was his response.

Celena blinked, then stared blankly at her brother. "What?"

"I'll think about it later, I don't know what to tell you." He shrugged, not looking away from the television.

"You mean you're approval? I can't see him until you decide?" She questioned in confusion.

"No, I meant what I think about it. But you can do whatever you want. It's not like I can stop you from seeing him." Allen said, yawning in the middle.

Celena looked on at the scene. "You look tired. Maybe you should take a nap." She said cautiously. She watched him nod half-heartedly. "And thanks... I think." She said before walking away.

**xoxo**

"Hey, how was your day?" She asked, smiling kindly.

The boy just shrugged before grabbing something from the fridge. "Just another day I guess."

"Someone seems less happy than usual." Merle commented as she stumbled into the kitchen. "Where's Folken? He said he'd take me out for ice cream at that place-"

Van groaned as he sat down with a glass of chocolate milk. "He's still here? I thought he left for good early."

Varie looked at her children's antics. "Actually, he said he had some things to do but he'll be back soon." She watched as Van made a face and Merle twirled her way back to the living room. "You've been home a lot lately. Why aren't you out with friends?" She questioned, glancing back as she grabbed a towel to dry the dishes.

The dark-haired boy just shrugged. "Not much to do nowadays."

"So how's Hitomi?" She asked, moving on to a different topic.

"Good, I guess. Just saw her in passing." He said before taking another gulp from his glass.

Varie discreetly examined her son's laid back posture and uncaring attitude. "Alright then. Well if she ever wants to come over she's welcome to."

"I'll tell her that." He said flippantly.

"Right now?" She asked back, sounding nonchalant and unthinking.

"Sure." He responded.

**xoxo**

There was definitely something wrong with her. Where was she going? Why was she lying to her family for this? What good did she expect this to bring?

Well she wasn't thinking about it in the long run, just that... maybe... she enjoyed Allen's company. And maybe her first choice should have been Hitomi or Dilandau, seeing as they were all heading for best friend territory, but that didn't mean her life had to revolve around anybody in particular. What was wrong with doing what you wanted in the moment anyway?

And at this moment she wanted to spend time with Allen, though Millerna was very unsure why. But it didn't matter since it was all better than staying home. It was only a matter of time before the bitter confrontation came and her family unit attempted to forgive each other.

As she arrived at his front door, the blonde finally took a moment to pause and think before actually announcing her presence.

It was pointless. Millerna was having doubts.

She sighed and sat down slowly on the front steps, face in her hands. 'At least I stopped myself from making a really bad decision here.' She thought, leaning to the side against the railing.

She turned and let her forehead make contact with the cool metal. "Stupid, stupid, stupid..." She whispered to herself, barely moving away to hit her head a few times. The girl turned back to stare at the street in front of her. "I should just go..." She thought.

Home was not preferable. There was always hanging out with Hitomi or Dilandau.

Millerna smiled as she remember their silly banter from just days before.

Just as she started to get back on her feet the front door opened.

**xoxo**

She turned around after having a minor spat with her brother about who was taking out the garbage to head back into her room. There were still chores to be done and homework to finish.

Hitomi groaned at the thought, wanting nothing more than to lazily take a nap before dinner. She walked into her room, closing the door behind her with a foot and flopping down on the bed.

"Laundry, check." She started, talking to herself. "Garbage, check. Dishes... after dinner. Homework...." She glanced over to her desk where her books lay carelessly. "Not done."

The brunette had no choice but to once again get up and make her way to the discarded books. She sat down in the chair with a flop and pulled the nearest book over. She rested her face in a hand, staring down at the words.

When nothing came she sighed and put her head down on the table, assured that a quick ten minute nap would reenergize her for the rest of the day. Instead she was abruptly woken half an hour later from a random dream that did less to comfort her.

"That... didn't... happen..." Hitomi said to herself, breathing heavily as if she'd run a marathon. She stared around at the things in front of her, hands gripping the edge of the table.

She looked up to stare blankly at her computer screen for a moment, before her hands were quickly in motion.

After typing out the rash and random message, she closed her eyes as she completed the process.

**xoxo**

"Hey, what're you doing?" He asked, looking up as she walked closer. She didn't reply right away, looking at the ground and lost in thought. "Hell-o?" He tried again.

Celena glanced up sharply at the sound of Dilandau's voice. "What are you doing here?" She looked around at the shopping area that was relatively empty.

Dilandau grinned. "I asked first. I thought you'd be at home, you know, doing homework and being a good girl and all."

She stuck out a tongue and made a face. "We've been over this. So if you don't want to lose your wallet again then don't say things that aren't completely true." Celena said with a smile.

"I'm..." He started, standing up from the bench he had been perched on and nervously ran a hand through his hair. "I was considering... whether or not I should get one last cigarette."

"Didn't we go over this? Boyfriend, you _don't_ smoke. Anymore. At all." Celena said, happily bouncing over to his side.

"I thought you were gonna hit me for a second." He said, one eye closed and head tilted slightly as he looked at her.

"Well, okay then." And she smacked him behind the head.

"Hey!"

Celena grinned smartly. But it quickly turned upside down.

Dilandau glanced over after his minor grumbling to see her expression. "What's wrong?" He was suddenly in front of her, holding onto her upper arms and giving a concerned look.

"Well, I told Allen." She said lightly, eyes shifting to stare up at him. "About, you know..." She motioned between them.

"What? Now I have to worry about him jumping me or something, don't I?" Dilly started off with a shocked expression, which went back to concern and then hopelessness as he gazed up at the sky. "I guess I should get home and write my will or something."

"Don't be stupid." Celena said, causing him to look at her again. "You don't even have anything of value that anyone would _want_ to own."

He stared a few seconds before it sunk in, obviously he was expecting to hear something else. "Ha-ha." His expression turned deadpan.

"But seriously... I don't know what happened." She started off, shrugging off his grasp and taking two steps away. "He just... kind of ignored it, I think. He said it was... pending." She made a face at this.

"What does that mean?" He asked, looking at her.

Celena glanced back. "Pending means-"

"I didn't mean literally you dork." Dilandau responded, rolling his eyes. She just gave him a cheeky smile. "Yeah, yeah. What do you wanna do now then?"

The two slowly started to walk off. "I was heading somewhere actually. I just told Allen I'd be going for a walk though because I didn't think of this sooner." She said, not looking back at him and leading the way.

Dilly raised a brow. "And that would be what? Stalking me?"

She jabbed at him with an elbow. "If you wanna know then just keep following me."

"Why aren't we just looking for a nice, quiet corner and-"

"And having Allen find us so he can remove your most precious body parts? Yeah, let's go do that!" She said, faking enthusiasm.

"Harsh." Dilly replied with a huff.

"Yeah, I'm sure it would suck for me too."

He grinned back at this. "Really, now?"

"Get your head out of the gutter!" Celena shouted.

The pair walked a few more minutes in silence. Dilandau waited for her to subtly snake her hand into his own, but it never happened. He could only suspect that Allen's unexpected response had thrown her off and she wasn't willing to do anything to compromise her already unsound situation.

And maybe he should've been a little more worried about it too. But he decided to spend the time having fun instead of-

"Where are we?" He asked as they stopped in front of a house.

"A friend's place." Celena replied, turning back as she continued up the path to the front door.

"Really?" He quirked an eyebrow. "Well then maybe the three of us could spend some quality time together."

"Of course we could. I'm sure my friend would be up for it." Celena said, smiling.

"You do know what I'm thinking, right?" He questioned giving her an uncertain look.

"I always know what you're thinking." She responded, and Dilandau grinned.

"Alright then. Let's get started." He said, also taking his first steps towards the house.

A minute later the door opened and a tall guy opened the door and scratched his head with a confused expression.

"You didn't say it was a guy!" Was the first thing to break the silence.

"Why would you assume it was a girl? Guys." Celena rolled her eyes.

"Uh, do I know any of you?" The third finally said.

"No, I'm sure you don't. We're just looking for Van." Celena smiled as Dilandau's eyes bugged out. "I'm Celena, and this is Dilandau."

The guy went on, scratching his head. "Oh, hey." He greeted them, stepping aside so they could walk in. "I'm Folken, Van's older brother."

"So where is the gutter ball?" Dilandau asked, coming out of his surprise as they walked into the house.

Celena hit him once again. "I can get rid of those body parts before Allen does, you know. So, be. Nice."

Dilly grumbled, rubbing his head unconsciously and making his way to the sofa to sit down.

"Hi." An energetic and slightly squeaky voice said, startling the two newcomers.

"Don't do that." Dilandau said, eyes still wide and a hand over his heart.

Folken closed the door and walked over. "She's been experimenting with helium." He explained, putting a hand over his face as he sat down.

"Sorry." The girl responded with a sheepish face, her voice still high-pitched. She tried to clear her throat. "Hi, I'm Merle." She said again, her voice only slightly changed.

"Dilandau." He responded with a perturbed expression.

"Celena." She said, smiling brightly at the younger girl. "And you're Van's younger sister?"

Merle nodded happily. "I'll go get him for you guys." She got up and began skipping away.

"Yeah, cuz I'm sure he'll be glad to see us here." Dilandau commented, stretching his arms out on the top of the sofa.

"You know, I might've forgotten to mention," Celena started, a finger on her lip in a thoughtful pose. "He already knows about my dealings with you, even before anything happened."

"What?" The silver-haired boy was once again in panic mode.

She smiled sheepishly, sticking her tongue out the side of her mouth. "He was actually there when you came by to pick up your lighter and- Yeah, he was there."

As the memory resurfaced for the two, someone else entered the room.

"Oh, we have guests and you didn't tell me?" A voice asked, making everyone look behind Dilandau. "Hello, I'm Varie." She introduced, smiling at everyone.

"Van's older sister?" Dilly asked with a grin as he looked up.

"Flattery's gonna get you hurt some day, kid." Folken said as he got up and headed for the kitchen. Varie still stood around for a second, flattered none-the-less.

"And hitting on other people in front of your current girlfriend won't help you out either." Celena input.

"I'll just get you kids something to eat." Varie said decidedly, taking off for the kitchen.

A big yawn caught the attention of the two guests and they turned to see a dark-haired boy as he exited a room, followed by Merle who was smiling.

"Next time just let me sleep. I doubt whoever it is is important enough to see me." Van was saying as he looked back at his sister.

"Really? I thought you would've missed me by now." Celena said, face in hand.

Van looked up to catch sight of the two victims. "Oh. So I was right." He said back, flopped down onto the nearest sofa, the one person seater. "Dilandau, haven't seen you in a while. I was afraid Allen had gotten rid of the body and didn't ask for my help."

Dilandau mocked him for a second. "Yeah, I'm sure everyone's wondering why that hasn't happened yet."

"What do you mean?" Van sat forward, brows furrowed. Merle was perched on the side on his chair, watching the three.

"Psst." Celena called, making him look across the length of the coffee table to where she sat. "I forgot to tell you, but," She motioned between Dilly and herself and hoped that would be enough. When all she got was a confused expression, the girl rolled her eyes.

Of course it hit Merle quickly enough and she suddenly leaned over to whisper in her brother's ear. Meanwhile Dilandau looked over to his girlfriend with a 'what the eff?' expression, asking why she couldn't just say it out loud.

"Oh." Van said as Merle moved back and he wore an expression of great comprehension.

"Right." Celena looked around, trying not to laugh at him. "And then I just told Allen about it."

"How'd he take it?" He questioned again.

"He didn't, apparently." Dilly interrupted, leaning back with his arms behind his head.

Celena just nodded. "And since I didn't wanna bother him any further I decided to come bother you instead! And I just happened to run into Dilly on the way."

"Dilly?" Van's voice was heard, making Dilandau flinch. The dark-haired boy was grinning as he looked to the other male in the room. "A pet name already?"

"Shut u-"

"Okay, here are some cookies and cupcakes and-" Varie started as she set down a tray with assorted sweets onto the coffee table.

"Mom, you don't even feed _us_ that!" Merle was complaining, jumping up to snatch a cookie before her mom could scold her.

Folken also popped up again, a mug in hand and playing it cool. "So, these are some of your other friends, huh?" He asked, looking at his younger brother. "I still haven't seen Allen yet, where is that kid?"

"Actually, that's Allen's little sister." Van motioned over to where Celena sat, biting into a cupcake, frosting on her lip.

"Cute." Folken commented, turning to eye her before smiling slowly. He also purposely caught Dilandau's eyes before winking at the girl who was trying not to choke.

"Eh heh, yeah that's me." Celena said after swallowing and licking her lips, the rest of the cupcake still in hand.

Varie smiled brightly. "Oh? Why didn't you say so before? Where is your brother by the way? Folken's right, we haven't seen him around for a week or two." She took a seat next to Dilly on the three person sofa. He stiffened, unused to being around such a nice adult, other than his laidback parents of course.

"Mom. He doesn't live with us." Merle said, making a face when her mother looked over.

She just waved a hand. "Nonsense. He's practically family."

"More like a cat stalking around." Merle muttered to herself. Van just handed her another cookie, totally distracting her from her grumbling.

"So what did you guys wanna do?" Van questioned, looking at the two.

Celena and Dilandau looked at each other before turning back to him. "I don't know." Celena answered as Dilly shrugged in response.

Folken was already walking around to sit in the open spot between his mother and Dilandau, grabbing the remote on his way. "Alright, if you guys don't have a clue then I'm just gonna get on with watching my favorite show."

And soon everyone was staring intensely at the TV.

**xoxo**

_I'm going out on a limb here, my heart's on my sleeve and all that. Tell me why._

_Why? ...I don't know how to answer that. Is this the part where I go 'why not'?_

_Not funny. If you don't even know what you want then what are you doing?_

_Who said I don't know what I want? You might still be a little confused, and I guess that's okay seeing as I startled you and all._

_Understatement. Startled me? Yeah, no. I'm still freaking out._

_About what?_

_Don't you remember who I am? Did it look like I had a lot of experience in this... this!_

_No... I mean, no need to be so harsh on yourself._

_And you, you can't be as stupidly innocent as I think you are._

_..._

_You didn't correct me._

_I thought you were just affirming a fact._

_I was. But I thought it might not be true..._

_See? Don't you miss talking to me?_

_I... guess so. Back when you were easier to figure out and all._

_Hey! I have a brain, you know!_

_Well then maybe you should use it once in a while. ...Stop laughing already!_

_Okay, okay. Look, why did you really want to talk?_

_To try and figure you out._

_...And?_

_I think... that if there ever was a chance I should take, seeing as I've never had the opportunity before this, it would be this and with you._

_But what about the butterflies?_

_Butterflies?_

_Do you like me?_

_Geez, I didn't think you'd be so straightforward..._

_If you can't... or just don't want to answer me, it's okay. Since you like to keep bringing up how out of the loop you are when it comes to 'these things', I won't badger you so much._

_Why not? You were doing so well with it before._

_...Alright, I'm sorry about that. But it did eventually get you to come around, right?_

_No, your attitude towards me was totally off-putting and you're lucky I'm even talking to you at all._

_...So..._

"Van." She said.

He looked up, the phone pressed to his ear, waiting.

"I don't know what butterflies feel like."

There was a short silence.

"I guess there's a first time for everything."

He smiled unknowingly.

"I'll see you... tomorrow." She said, paused and then slowly hung up the phone.

**xoxo**

**Wow, there**__is just so much wrong with me right now. I feel horrible that you had to read this chapter because in my book it really, really sucked. I am ever so sorry about this. I've just been in this really bad place, writing-wise, and yeah I guess with the rest of my life too maybe.

Well I tried really hard to get something written, despite the short-comings here. And apparently you're lucky that this chapter is done at all with the way it's been lately. Trying to write has been difficult, writing anything or just doing anything besides chores and stuff. I'm wondering what in the world will I do if I can't write anymore, for whatever reasons.

But anyway, there are other, less depressing matters to talk about, so forget about my personal ranting. I feel like things in the story are back to moving at a snail's pace. There is some development but somehow the romance feels a little lost and I'm trying desperately to recapture the humor.

Tell me the truth, are any of you still enjoying this? Or are some of you just reading out of duty after having added me/the story to your alert lists?

**1-15-08**

You know what is so strange? The last time I edited this was the date right above. In January. Do you know how long that one month felt when I was trying to write? Awfully long I have to say. It felt like nothing would get out, the words were so hard to write.

And when I did finish this chapter I could only look at it in distaste. It felt and looked, to me, horrible. But now that I've reread everything for the first time in over a month, I've fallen in love with my own story all over again.

Anyway, I've had a crazy 'over a month' since then. My computer is slowly dying and I've just ordered a new one today. And mostly I just couldn't seem to look at this story so I just kept reading and reading and because I was afraid this piece of junk (my computer) would crash in the middle of something I spent about 40+ hours playing Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess over the past two, three weeks.

I'm sorry that I kept this completely finished chapter burning on my computer for the past month. I see now that it totally deserves to be posted. There are a bunch of things I wanted to say in this AN but I'm taking up too much space as it is...

**As always, thanks to everyone who reads any of the things I've written! If it weren't for you I might not have the heart to write most of the time.**

**If you ever wanna see what I'm up to, check out my profile/bio page to see if I've updated! Or you could send me a message to say hi, see what's going on for yourself or even to berate and yell at me!**

**2-24-08**

**11:04pm**


	25. Chapter 25

**xoxo**

**Title-Are you stalking me?**

**Chapter 25**

**By-Moon Prynces**

**xoxo**

Monday had been such a long day. Was it really just yesterday, and the past weekend, that so much had happened? Was she really agreeing to give Van a chance? Why was it so hard for her to just accept that fact that he…

These were along the lines of Hitomi's thoughts as she sat in class, tapping a pencil to her temple and trying to pay attention.

Someone kicked her chair from behind.

Startled, the girl turned back in a torturously slow manner.

Van just gave a mock stern look and pointed his own writing utensil to the front of the room, indicating she had better be keeping up with class.

Hitomi just rolled her eyes and turned back to face the blackboard. 'He probably just wants me to explain it to him later on.' She thought huffily, taking down some notes.

But she couldn't help the grin that slowly spread across her face, keeping her head down to hide it.

Class ended in no time and Hitomi nearly walked into someone as she left the room. She looked up to meet Van's gaze and listened to the sound of him impatiently tapping his feet.

"What's wrong with you?" She asked, brushing past him, knowing that he'd follow her anyway.

"Where you headed?" He asked back instead.

"My locker. I've got lunch now so being late is irrelevant." She responded, leading the way.

"Hmm." Van said again, looking thoughtful.

She glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. And not for the first time since their phone conversation yesterday did she notice the dimple on his right cheek when his lips moved a certain way or that his hair always seemed disheveled even when he swore to have pulled a brush through it that morning.

Then there was also the new and bigger issue in her presence. The one they were ignoring for the time being, though Hitomi was wondering what plan he had up his sleeve. With the way he'd been behaving before, this was a complete turn-around.

But seeing as they were doing so well right now, Hitomi thought, she might as well spare herself the agony of thinking everything over at the moment.

Before she realized it, they were walking down the hall and then around campus in a comfortable silence.

"You know my mom and Merle seem pretty excited to have you around." Van commented with a small smile, looking down at her.

Hitomi blinked and looked back. "What? Why?"

He shrugged. "Who knows? My family's crazy." Then went back to staring ahead, although there was some quirk of the lips. "They're eagerly awaiting for our next play-date."

"Our what?" She all but screamed, stopping in her tracks.

Van only lifted an eyebrow, still walking. "What? You don't like hanging out with me now?"

Hitomi only turned red, thinking she'd assumed something too soon. "No, just wondering how you ever got on without me." She responded with a weak smile and catching up quickly.

He only shook his head with that grin still on his face.

When they finally neared a building that Hitomi hadn't been aiming for, Van stopped them.

"Hey, I've gotta talk to one of my teachers about something, I'll see you later? Maybe by the gate after school?" He tried to suggest, without any subtlety.

She looked up, a little surprised, though admitting to herself, 'why should I be?'

"Hey, you shouldn't let yourself get so stressed out all the time." He said, trying to get a reaction instead of this day-dream like behavior. "No one here wants to see wrinkles."

And for that she regained her posture with an indignant retort and attempted to deck him.

"Seriously though," He said, amidst the laughing as she finally gave up.

Hitomi eyed him carefully. "I've never seen you so carefree and... _happy_." She ended, looking bitter that she hadn't taught him a lesson.

"Seriously though," He continued, ignoring her statement entirely and stepping closer. "Stop. Worrying."

And on that note he ended with a quick kiss on the forehead that she barely acknowledged before it was over and he was already saying something and heading into the building.

Hitomi watched his back as he walked away, and closed her eyes for the briefest of moments.

**xoxo**

She smiled brightly in his direction and for a moment he thought she might be faking to cover something up. But it didn't waver and she turned away soon after.

Allen stared a moment before turning back to the three students he was forced to work with during this class assignment.

He was a little dazed, but still trying to keep focused. The only girl in their group of four giggled, obviously crushing on the blonde boy. Allen sighed, along with the other two boys, who were only trying to finish the classwork quickly so they could leave early.

Millerna had, of course, been fished out by a group of her "friends" to join them. Thus, she now sat across the room from Allen, though still in his line of vision.

Public humiliation had done wonders for Allen's ego. Or so it seemed to all their classmates, seeing as no one knew any real reasons why he was suddenly less of a jerk. Weeks had passed since their confrontation so no one really remembered, old gossip as it is.

"Anyone know the answer to number thirteen?" One of the girls questioned, holding the workbook and staring at the pages.

"So, what's going on with you and your project with Allen Schezar?" Another girl asked, not even two seconds after. She put her chin on her hand, sending a wink and smile to Millerna.

The blonde smiled, used to attention of all sorts. "Almost done." She said, and then turned to the first girl, named Yuka. "The answer's somewhere between page seventy-eight and eighty-two." She replied seamlessly.

The last girl in their table of four finally looked up from fiddling with her nails. "So I guess that means you're the one who's tamed Allen?" She asked with a mischievous gleam in her eyes. "That sure is something considering his track record with girls."

Millerna only shrugged in response. "I'm not sure what you mean. Yeah, I got him to cooperate and apply himself to the assignment, somehow. Maybe he's just finally realized how important schoolwork is to his future." She glanced over her shoulder, prompting the two girls to look as well. "He seems pretty focused right now."

The only girl flipping pages furiously sighed and looked up. "Would you knock it off and start working!" She scolded her friends.

As the three of them sheepishly continued the assignment, Allen took a moment to look up from his nearly full page of written work.

"What're you looking at?" One of the boys asked, glancing in the same direction.

Allen caught himself and averted his gaze to the teacher standing less than a foot from Millerna. "Just wondering… what time is it?"

As one of the boys checked his wristwatch Allen started to space off, recalling yesterday when Millerna had unexpectedly shown up at his front door for the second time, though it was bright out and she didn't come in.

It had been an unusual situation for him. She looked uncomfortable and had just asked if he wanted to go for a walk. They talked about nothing, things that didn't mean much. She asked about Celena and then told him her family was fine, even though he wouldn't have questioned her about it. Even though he knew 'fine' wasn't the right word to cover it.

And so for a brief moment in the bright of daylight they were just _friends_.

He remembered laughing with her about something stupid or other. She wasn't angry or tense or looking to use him to fulfill some romantic fantasy. And he wasn't being a jerk or trying to out her or being arrogant.

Allen hated that he was being so reflective about this odd relationship he had with her. She was just another girl. The only women he had ever actually cared about were the ones in his family and maybe Van's own mother and sister, though he hadn't seen them in a while.

'Maybe I should pay them a visit.' He thought, trying to distract himself.

Still across the room and with another twenty minutes of class to go, Millerna glanced around to see Allen spaced out. She averted her gaze so as not to arouse more suspicion with the girls she was sitting with.

'Honestly.' She thought, rolling her eyes. 'Why are people always jumping to conclusions?' She paused to write something down. 'And so what if there was something going on? That's all my business until I decide to tell someone.'

She was slowly becoming annoyed with these girls that she sat with, and also with herself. It was only her own fault that they spoke to her with that casual familiarity. She was the one who created the pseudo friendships and pristine façade. Few people actually saw who she was and even fewer had seen her at her worst.

Millerna glanced around at the three, all scribbling furiously in their notebooks. Really though, who could be so stupid as to believe she was so perfect? Who actually thought there was such a person?

'Am I really that good of an actress or are they all dense and uncaring?' She thought again. 'Allen wasn't fooled so easily. Hitomi was sincere and saw more.' She leaned forward on her arm, tilting her head. 'I wonder what it was about these certain people that drew us closer together.'

She thought hard for a second, eyes tracing the shape of her desk. 'And Allen sure has changed; he's actually a pretty decent guy. I guess even I changed too, I never thought or cared about having any real friends til now. I probably could have left high school and gotten married without ever knowing what it's like to rely on other people this way.'

She paused in her writing and tried to imagine what it would feel like; going back to the way her life had been before Hitomi and Dilandau. Being alone and empty and working so hard for nothing, Millerna felt her eyes get misty, but she shook her head and continued on with work.

Ten minutes went by and the four girls in the group sighed in relief as they finished the assignment.

"I'll take them up to the teacher." One of them offered.

And then they sat around and Millerna lost herself in mindless chatter and effortless laughter.

Allen looked at her for a moment out of the corner of his eyes.

'But she's not just _another girl_, is she?' He asked himself.

**xoxo **

Hitomi sighed, blowing her hair away from her face. "I guess I'm still not used to guys being nice to me. I mean I was always made fun of or ignored by everyone. I'm not special, I'm like everyone else." She went on even though Millerna looked ready to protest that point. "I still have problems with math and..." She stopped as someone snorted with laughter. "What?"

Dilandau suppressed it for a second to explain. "You have... problems... with math?" He asked, still chuckling in-between.

Hitomi turned pink and directed a glare at him. "I love how you're so understanding and supportive Dilandau!" She replied with a _look_.

Millerna sighed as they engaged in a one-sided argument. "What's wrong now Hitomi?"

The brunette turned back quickly to her friend and blinked. "It's just weird." She sunk down into her folded arms on the cafeteria table.

Dilandau was staring at her weirdly. "So? A lot of things are weird at first. Like just starting high school." He broke out into a grin. "See I remember my first day way back when-"

Millerna shot him a flat look. "It hasn't even been two years. What're you talking about, 'way back when'… idiot." She concluded, putting a spoonful of yogurt in her mouth. "Hitomi you really are worrying too much."

There was a pause as Hitomi did admit this to herself. Then she shot up to look at the two. "Oh yeah, Millerna how did things go at home? I didn't see you at all yesterday, were you even in school?"

"Hm?" Was the reply with the spoon sticking out of her mouth. She quickly removed it to give a proper answer. "Things are okay. I did get grief for doing what I did and now we just pretend it didn't happen."

"That can't be healthy." Hitomi was commenting to herself.

Dilandau interrupted. "So where'd you stay that night again?" He asked with a sly look.

Millerna jumped at his implications. "Uh… what're you talking about? Wait! What _are_ you talking about?" She turned on Hitomi. "You told him everything already?"

The other girl just waved it off. "Well yeah, what would he have done? You trust him don't you?" Hitomi did have the decency to look a little ashamed.

Millerna sighed again and rested her chin in a palm, thinking. "Yeah, you're right." She finally agreed in a small voice.

Dilandau had given up teasing her and Hitomi had resumed eating, but now they both looked up as Millerna restarted the conversation.

"I'm really tired these days." Millerna admitted, trying to look more casual than she felt. "Since Marlene and Eries got home a lot has happened. A lot more has happened in this one visit than the past six years." She looked around, realizing she had their undivided attention and suddenly becoming self-conscious of it. "I haven't been telling you guys everything." She looked at the table, drawing circles on it with a finger.

Hitomi glanced across from her at Dilandau. "It's okay though, we all have family problems. You don't need to force yourself to tell us if you don't want to." She smiled reassuringly. If there was one thing Hitomi was becoming good at, it had to be helping other people in order to ignore her own problems.

"I did want to tell you guys. But instead I went and told Allen. And now I feel stupid about that. Like why didn't I trust you guys instead of him? What's wrong with me?" Millerna was rambling to herself. She smiled sadly and looked up at the two. "At least I'm not crying this time."

Wordlessly Hitomi and Dilandau got up and led Millerna to a more quiet area of the school grounds to finish the lunch period. A few students muttered to themselves, glancing back at the abandoned table still littered with two half empty trays and a can.

**xoxo**

The next day a brunette was lounging around her room after getting home from school and debating whether or not to get started on the little homework she had when the phone beside her started to ring.

"Hello?" A voice asked hurriedly.

Hitomi stared at the wall in confusion. "Uh… hello?" She asked back.

"Hitomi?" The voice asked and said girl glanced at the phone in her hand.

"Um, yeah, who is this?" She questioned.

"Oh thank god it's you! It's me, Merle! Listen Hitomi I'm sorry I ransacked Van's room to get your number but I really need your help with something!" The girl said in a panicky voice.

"Calm down, what's going on? Are you okay?" Hitomi quickly adjusted to the situation and sat down on her own bed, brows coming together.

"Do you mind going for a walk with me? I'm not sure I want to talk about this on the phone…" Merle sighed, looking around her room.

And before the brunette could fully understand what she was getting into, Merle had trapped her into meeting at the pizza place somewhere around the neighborhood in half an hour.

Merle, being the sister of two older and conniving brothers, let Hitomi sit down and waited till they had gotten themselves something to eat before telling her the news.

"You want to- what?" Was Hitomi's reaction as she choked on pizza after scalding the roof of her mouth.

Merle stared down into her lap self-consciously, her cheeks turning as pink as her hair. "Well, I know it's a strange request but I just can't go alone! And I haven't even told Van or Folken or Mom about it either! You know what they'd all do if I did, right?"

Hitomi nodded while a scene popped into her head. Varie stood, holding a tray of cookies in one hand with a gentle smile and trying to coax Merle into bringing her friend home while Van frowned deeply and stared intensely at his little sister. And even though she didn't know Folken well enough, she could see him peering over a mug of coffee with a calm look on his face as thoughts of torture and homicide and places to stash dead bodies flitted through his mind.

Hitomi gasped to herself, wondering why she had such an active imagination.

So she just nodded to Merle.

"I mean if I do they'll make a big deal out of it and if it turns out to be nothing or even some joke then I'll be so humiliated!" Merle burst out.

"Um, ok…" Hitomi started out shakily with a sheepish expression. "So you want me… to follow you as you… uh, go out on your first… date?"

Merle sighed. "It does sound strange now that you say it like that." She opened her eyes and gave Hitomi this pathetic look. "But I mean, what if something goes wrong! He's from a different class and I don't know what kind of person he is at all! What if he tries to drag me to an alleyway or something?"

Hitomi stared a few seconds… before she started to chuckle to herself. "And I thought I had an overactive… nevermind. Okay, well how'd this whole date get set up anyway?"

Merle's blush became deeper. "I was getting ready to go home the other day and he stopped me." She was shaking her head, trying to continue. "And you know how I read too many mangas? It was kinda like that…"

The older girl smiled. "So he confessed to you and asked you out." She sighed as well. "That seems kind of perfect."

At this Merle started waving her hands frantically. "Okay, sure it does. But mangas and real life are different! What if we don't get along at all! What if he's just playing a trick with some friends or something!" She looked so nervous that Hitomi felt a little bad.

"Well you do need to give it try, don't you? It's your first date. You had to have said yes for a reason." To this assumption Hitomi was pleased to see Merle nod with that embarrassed face she'd had on the whole time. "Don't be so worried. So then what exactly would I be doing?"

Merle looked relieved and her tense posture loosened slightly. "Alright, well you just need to discreetly follow us a bit. We won't be hanging out that long, I think." She pondered this a moment, then sighed for the nth time that day. "I wish one of us knew what to expect." She eyed Hitomi, who laughed it off.

"Expectations are overrated. They ruin things." Hitomi replied, pretending to have confidence in her own words. "So then when is this date?"

Merle glanced at a clock on the wall. "In like an hour."

Hitomi gasped loudly. "And that's what you're wearing?" She mockingly pointed across the table to her companion.

The two bickered over nothing for a bit and Hitomi tried to help ease away all the tension in the air.

**xoxo**

Life was pretty good these days. Nothing he could find to really complain about. Except maybe the fact that he was getting hungry and getting up from this comfortable position on his bed didn't seem like a good idea.

Dilandau sighed, staring up at his ceiling with hands behind his head.

He hadn't really gotten a chance to see Celena that day except when they had gotten out. She had greeted him with a quick kiss and told him she needed to get home for a formal family dinner night her parents were having. Of course she had swept away with promises of hanging out with him tomorrow.

The teen glanced around his room, noting how bright it was today, even though the sun was starting the set.

A few stomps were heard as someone came up the stairs and then directly to his door.

Someone burst in and started to speak. "I thought I told you to quit smoking in your roo-" She stopped in surprise and looked around to see her one and only son lying on his bed with a bored look. "Oh." She blinked.

"What's up?" Dilly asked casually.

His mother took a few steps into the room and peered around suspiciously. Then she even closed her eyes and sniffed the air. "You're not smoking?" She asked uncertainly.

He shook his head blankly.

"And you're not out causing trouble?"

He shot a flat look.

"And you're not in jail…" She said to herself thoughtfully before looking back at his annoyed expression. "Something's different." She walked in, grabbing a few articles of clothing off the floor and threw them into the laundry basket under her arm.

Dilandau just shrugged indifferently. "I don't know what you're talking about."

She only glanced over her shoulder on her way out, not saying another word.

Dilly ran a hand through his hair, irritated. "God, no privacy! I'm going out!" He called as he dashed out of his room and down the stairs.

**xoxo**

Hitomi looked around with an uncomfortable expression. 'I really shouldn't have agreed to this. What was I thinking?' She wondered, raking a hand through her short hair.

She glanced around quickly. 'Oh, where did they go now?' She silently dashed to hide behind another shop sign, catching sight of the two.

Hitomi managed a strangled sigh, her eyes getting teary from tiredness. 'It's only been half an hour and nothing bad seems to have happened. How much longer will I follow them around? Maybe I can get some coffee real quick and a book or something to read too!'

She watched as the two thirteen year olds talked animatedly, laughing at something as they paid for two ice cream cones.

At that moment Hitomi felt her stomach growl. 'Hungry already? I had pizza only…' She paused, looking up in serious thought. 'Two hours ago? When did that happen? I-'

"Hitomi?"

The girl in question whirled around so quickly she got dizzy. "Uh…" Then she finally looked up to the person. "Van?" She nearly shrieked in her surprise and discreetly looked over her shoulder to the two that were walking further down the block filled with stores and street vendors.

"What're you doing here?" He asked with a blank look. "Where are you glancing at?" He tilted his head to try and see what she was looking at.

Hitomi grabbed his arm and walked, spinning him away from that direction. "Nothing! Just checking something." She looked around. "The clock!" She pointed to an old-fashioned building. "Just checking the time." She replied with a nervous chuckle and watched over Van's shoulder at the last sign of Merle and her date. She sighed whilst panicking at the same time. 'I can't lose sight of them!' She looked up to Van who was gazing at her curiously. 'But I can't let Van see either!'

"You okay?" He questioned, shoving his hands in his pockets.

"Never better." She lied. "Hey, you want ice cream?" She asked, steering them in the general direction of her focus.

"Well not real-" His reply didn't matter to her though and soon they were standing in front the same vendor that Merle and her date had gotten their ice cream from.

"Alright, I'll have a chocolate cone and you…" Hitomi trailed off in question while letting her eyes roam the area. 'Oh no! They're getting farther away! Where did they learn to walk so fast?' She thought, horrified. "Actually, you know what? I don't want ice cream anymore! I probably don't have any money on me too!" With that being said she dragged the confused Van away from the confused vendor who was holding a cone in his hand.

"Hey, you sure you're okay?" Van asked once more as she dragged him by his arm, and made him look around suspiciously.

"Mmhmm." She nodded along.

"Okay, well that's good. I didn't know you'd be out today but I guess I'm glad I ran into you." He said, breaking into a slow smile that had Hitomi faltering in her steps.

"Uh…" She averted her eyes and spotted pink hair. "Why? We see each other in class all the time and around school grounds too."

He was grinning and she let go of his arm. "Now I can't just be happy to see you?"

Hitomi turned away, avoiding his gaze. "You… you sure are forward about the way you feel lately, huh?" She tried to sound joking but the laughs were sparse and they both knew she was really wondering these things.

Van stared at her for a moment. Then he shrugged carelessly. "Sorry. I didn't know it made you that uncomfortable to hear it. I was just thinking out loud I guess."

They were both aware of the color spreading across her face. She nodded silently.

"What are you doing tomorrow?"

"You mean besides school?"

He gave her a glare and Hitomi laughed to herself.

"Nothing. As you already know, my life isn't all that exciting." She smiled at him, momentarily forgetting her current mission.

"Well what about a date?" He asked, kicking at nothing before turning to look at her dead on.

Hitomi froze in shock, because just like all good heroines she didn't see this coming at all. "Uh, um, a what?"

Van blinked before ruffling his hair self-consciously. "You want me to feel as weird about this as you do, don't you?" He fought the blush and awkward feeling. "Do you want to go out tomorrow?"

By now Hitomi's brain was overheating. "Uh…" And she was still staring at him with a slightly dazed and confused expression.

Van grabbed her shoulders and shook her. "Look, there's nothing to worry about. It'll be almost the same as when we hang out and stuff… just now you know how I feel and it's labeled a date." He reached down and held her chin with a finger.

"I…" She started, an argument in hand, before he cut her off.

"I know; you haven't been on a date. Don't worry so much." He winked casually. "There's a first time for everything." He let go of her and the two walked a bit more. "And think of it this way. Even if you had already been on dates before or done any of that stuff… it would have been with another person. So then this would still be your first date… with me."

Hitomi stared at him the entire time as he tried to sell her his idea. "You sure are charming when you need to be." Was all she said.

Van stopped. "Is that a yes?" He looked so hopeful.

And even though she wanted to run away from the situation and move back to where she came from and throw on all her old clothes and pretend she hadn't come this far out of her shell… Hitomi nodded, and sealed her fate. She wasn't turning back even though she was scared.

New and unfamiliar things would always make a person uncertain and wary but she had promised to give him a chance, and to give herself a chance as well.

Maybe they would grow together and be happy. Maybe she would fall for him a little more each day, if she was willing to be open to the possibility. Maybe… things might not even work out. But this was the only way to know for sure.

Hitomi let herself smile softly and then looked up slowly. She wasn't going to flinch this time.

'Well, I'll try anyway.' She thought. "Yeah. A date." She said out loud.

Van could hardly describe the immense joy pouring out of his heart. He was so happy and filled up that he was suddenly smiling so wide he was sure his face would hurt later.

It also took a lot of self-control to not swoop in and hug her right then. He didn't want to rush things either. He may not have been a regular Romeo like Allen but he wasn't completely naïve about these things. For once in his life, taking his time and proving himself to this one person had become a very important thing.

It said something about her, just as it said something about him. And maybe he had borrowed one too many of Merle's novels but… he was sure this waiting and her worrying and their struggle would just be worth it all in the end.

So Van nodded in reply and spun around, preparing to walk away.

"And by the way." He turned back. "I'm going to kiss you too. Some time. Soon. Ish. Just thought, you know, since you're all freaked out about _everything_, I'd give you fair warning." Van smiled to her over his shoulder and continued on his way, feeling like a giddy school girl.

Hitomi stood in shock, feeling like he'd suddenly thrown a brick at her head. She tried to calm the feeling of her heart racing.

"Oh no-!" She gasped suddenly, turning around and trying to spot the pink-haired girl. She let out a strangled sound as she watched the scene.

The boy who she'd been instructed to watch was suddenly leaning over and… She tried to avert her eyes, even though he had done the action in a relatively active area. Merle didn't seem to mind, and in fact she looked dazed herself.

It was quick. It was chaste. He didn't say anything afterward, only smiled to her.

Hitomi finally let herself relax and smiled. 'I guess there's nothing to worry about.'

**xoxo**

The front door swung open, and Van let out a disappointed breath. "Oh. It's you." He said.

The visitor made an annoyed grunt. "Nice to see you too." He looked around. "Going to invite me in?"

Van looked at him pointedly. "Not unless I have to."

The two started a stare-down. Van finally rolled his eyes and moved aside to let Dilandau meander into his house.

"So, what brings you here? Shouldn't you be like, stalking Celena or something?" Van asked, following his company to the living room where they both took seats.

Dilandau just waved a hand. "No worries. I got it covered." He replied nonchalantly.

Van opened his mouth to question this but shook his head and stopped himself.

"You were pretty excited to open that door. Who'd you think it was?" Dilandau asked, pretending to look uninterested.

"No one." Van glanced around. "I guess they all went out or something." He was mumbling to himself.

Now Dilandau rolled his eyes. "What? Thought is was... a girl?" The red-eyed boy asked with fear. This topic had already plagued so many hours of his life for the past few weeks. He didn't realize even 'guy time' couldn't escape this kind of torture. But then why in the hell was he the one broaching the subject? Can you say masochistic?

Van only scowled. "It's nothing."

The two sat in silence for a few unbearable minutes.

"So that's a yes?"

"Look Romeo, it's nothing you need to know."

"I've been upgraded to a Romeo now?" Dilandau grinned.

Van just sat there and simmered.

Realization dawned. "Oh geez. Don't tell me!" Van looked to his peer. "God, was I like that? All smitten and-"

"Hey!" Looking helpless, yet trying to deny the obvious Van went on. "I am not smitten or whatever!"

Dilly was too busy looking disgusted with himself. "Can we just do some guy stuff? Like videogames?"

Van paused. "Sure."

But he was left wondering when did he ever become so eager to have a girl within grasp.

So the two sat around playing videogames and forgetting all their earlier woes.

**xoxo**

"Hey Allen, you done in there?" Celena questioned, knocking lightly at her brother's bedroom door.

She heard a muffled sound and then the door swung open.

"What have you been doing?" She asked in disbelief. "We've had two hours to get ready! We're lucky mom's not making us help with dinner or setting up or something."

There stood her brother in all his disheveled glory. He let out a yawn and stretched.

"I think I fell asleep." Allen shrugged.

Celena pushed him aside and marched into the room, noting it's somewhat disorganized state. "Allen we need to be downstairs in ten minutes! People are supposed to start arriving and mom wants us to answer the door!" She left out the part where she was hoping to escape to the kitchen and snack on something and leave _him_ to answer the door.

His eyes widened mockingly as he pretended to find the situation distressing. She sighed at his childishness and pushed him to the closet.

"Get your damn clothes already! Do I need to do everything for you?" She started fussing around like their mother and picked out two shirts and started comparing them. "Red or green?" She asked contemplatively.

"Green?" He guessed, standing around like a moron in his sweats and a plain white tee.

Celena ignored him. "Definitely the red. Okay, now pants?" She shoved the shirt at him while replacing the other and started looking through the closet once more. "Alright, here are-" She stopped horrifyingly after pulling out his only pair of good slacks. "It's not even ironed!" She complained, then glared at him as he put on the shirt and started buttoning it up.

"You know, for such a small person you can be scary sometimes." He commented.

Her glare turned fiercer. "Do something with that hair before I cut it all off!" She snapped. "I'll go grab the iron from my room." Celena stomped out of the room in her periwinkle skirt and white blouse after the satisfaction of seeing Allen's face at her hair suggestion.

Ten minutes later, after Allen truly started to get in with the fussing and running around all panicky like Celena, the two were walking down the stairs slowly and straining their ears to pick up any unfamiliar voices.

"I guess no one's here yet." Celena whispered over her shoulder to Allen.

"That's rude, what kind of guests do we have?" He questioned, to which Celena shot him another glare.

The two made their way into the living room to find it indeed empty. They both sat down on the three person sofa and sighed. Allen started messing with his sleeves, wondering if it would look bad if he rolled them up a little before finally deciding against it. Celena started fussing with the slight curls she'd given her hair.

"Why are we doing this again?" She asked him.

"Dad wants to show off his prize worthy family?" Allen guessed.

"Yeah? And what prize would you be worthy of? Maybe Miss Universe with that long mane of yours?" She grinned when he shot her a look but started screeching as he attempted to mess up her hair.

The doorbell rang and the two looked at each other.

"Well?" He asked pointedly.

"Well what?" She shot back. "You're older, get to it."

"You're better eye candy. You'll definitely impress his co-workers."

She snorted. "Thanks."

"Besides," The doorbell rang once more. "They'll see you, think what a wonderful daughter and then they'll see me and think woah, is that his son? You're like the opening act to my-"

"Okay Allen, shut up." She grumbled, getting up. "I don't need to hear you praise yourself all night."

He just grinned, winning the battle.

"You're answering the door the next time." She warned, heading to the door.

"Hi, Dryden Fassa." A voice said as Allen sighed.

"Nice to meet you, Celena Schezar; the daughter." Said girl introduced herself with a mock curtsy that Dryden laughed knowingly at.

**xoxo**

Merle had come home an hour after Dilandau arrived. Varie popped up a bit after that and without being asked made the group something to eat. Folken hadn't stepped in yet and Van was grumbling under his breath about his older brother as him and Dilandau continued their mission on the strange planet presented on the TV screen.

Merle stared silently as the two looked so determined and concentrated that she was afraid to make a sound.

Finally she stood and said, "You guys act like your lives depend on this or something."

Van, though trying to keep focus, managed to reply. "Well it does. Don't you see the life meter right there?" And he removed a hand from the controller for one second to point at the screen.

A second which proved to be fatal.

"Van! What the hell!" Dilandau said as both screens went red and he looked at the raven-haired boy. "You were supposed to have my back!"

Van in turn whipped around to glare at Merle, only to find she wasn't there anymore.

They didn't spend time grieving the situation and instead started another game quickly.

After five minutes of silence with only the sound of gunshots Van glanced over at his companion.

"Don't worry Dilandau, I've always got your back." And true to his word, he annihilated someone that dared approach his partner with evil intent.

Varie watched this and waited before she brought out a tray with more refreshments, even though it was turning almost nine in the evening.

**xoxo**

Millerna sighed as she jogged down the stairs. She opened the front door without a word and Allen nodded in greeting before he stepped inside.

"Hey, so my sisters and mom are out right now. We can just work in the living room again." She said softly.

Allen nodded, but he was kind of wondering if there had ever even been a chance of working somewhere other than this one room.

They padded over to the coffee table that was already littered with her notebook, textbook, pens and a bunch of highlighters. It was already Thursday and the assignment was due in a week, which was why she had turned to him in class and suggested they try to finish it up that day.

"Started without me, huh?" He questioned teasingly and grinned.

Millerna smiled in slight embarrassment. "Well yeah." She shrugged. "Sorry but I wanna start the weekend without this hanging over my head. If we can get most it done now then I can just relax with my family."

Allen took out his own supplies and Millerna was surprised he had a few pages of his own notes.

"Guess I'm not the only one." She said cheekily while kneeling on the floor.

Allen shrugged just as she had before. "Well I feel the same way about the weekend." He admitted.

It was only four o'clock in the afternoon and as Allen was sitting down on the sofa he wondered where her family could be hanging out. Maybe they went to see a movie? Did they even know he would be over? It might be too much to ask any of these things so he settled for something safer.

"How're your sisters?"

The blonde girl was startled for a moment but Allen could only see the back of her head. She turned with a quick smile. "Great. I think they're leaving next week though so it'll get quiet again after that."

Allen frowned when she turned back to the coffee table but he didn't comment again. Instead he reached forward and grabbed her textbook to read some of the words highlighted in yellow and orange.

Twenty minutes of low murmurs and shuffling papers passed. Millerna was busy trying to convert the sentences into a summary they could use without being accused of plagiarism while Allen finished reading the rest of a chapter, looking for more information.

It worked for a while. Neither noticed the growing tension as they chose not to speak about more intimate topics even though it seemed inevitable, especially with the fact that they were in her house.

Millerna paused in her writing and heard a grumbling. She turned quickly as Allen was leaning forward over the book in his hands with a concentrated look on his face.

He suddenly let out another 'Hmm' unconsciously and flipped a page. The girl stared at him, unnoticed.

She began to admit, once more, that yes he was pretty attractive. Though his good looks normally hit people in the face so obviously, it was something that had to grow on her slowly as she spent more time around him. It was probably because his initial attitude had been such a turn off and she hadn't been able to see anything attractive past that.

Now though, as he was sitting around doing something so _normal_ she could see it.

She turned back to her notebook and stared blankly at the page. Allen said something and handed her the textbook while pointing out a passage she hadn't read yet. He grabbed his own notebook and started rereading something.

Millerna took note of the words and began translating things into her own words for future use.

'I…' She thought as her hand moved mechanically across the page. 'I spent the night in bed with him.' She realized slowly. 'I spent the night in bed with a guy! No wonder Marlene was upset. We could have been doing _anything_.'

As she admitted this to herself the pen was slowly losing the last of its ink. She sighed and threw it back onto the table.

"I think it's time for a break." She moved back to lean against the sofa from her place on the floor.

Allen looked down at her. "Alright."

The slight pause threatened to evolve into a full blown awkward silence so Millerna jumped up.

"Want something to drink?" She asked while heading out of the room.

"Iced tea?" He suggested.

Millerna headed straight for the fridge and grabbed the jug. As she pulled back and turned away she hadn't noticed that Allen had gotten up and followed her into the room, and thus she knocked into him and almost dropped it.

"Thanks." She smiled after he helped prevent her fall and placed it on the counter in order to look for some cups.

Allen stared at her back for a moment as she reached around in a cabinet.

"Are you okay?" He questioned. She looked over her shoulder confused. Allen shrugged. "I know it's something your friends should be asking but I think since you spent the night at my house I have a right to ask."

Millerna shook her head with a grin as she poured the liquid. "Yeah, things are a good. Sorry about showing up so unexpectedly the other day." She cringed inwardly because that encounter had been awkward and unnecessary indeed. But it was better to broach the subject head on instead of trying to avoid it.

"Nah, it's okay. Usually it's Van who shows up at my house." He said as he accepted the glass of iced tea. "At least this time it was a pretty face." Allen grinned as he took a slow sip with eyes still on her.

Millerna hated that his charm still somehow worked on her and so she did manage to blush a bit at the comment. She ignored it and hid behind her own glass for a sip.

She turned back to the cabinets after putting down her glass. "Um… I think…" The girl mumbled while rummaging through things. "Ah, sorry." She finally turned back with a box.

Allen quirked an eyebrow as she walked over and took a seat, forcing him to do the same. She had also grabbed a bowl from the dish rack to set on the table.

"We don't really have anything to eat. My mom and sisters said they'd go grocery shopping but who knows where they are." She shrugged.

So that was one mystery solved for the Schezar. They looked at the box that boasted some artificially flavored cereal without the obvious signs of sugar. Millerna poured a bunch of it into the bowl and then started snacking on it without milk or a spoon.

"So this is how the other half lives." Allen smirked.

Millerna paused in popping some more cereal into her mouth to glare. "You know I won't throw this at you because it's food, don't you?"

Allen shrugged while joining her in the feast. "Van would."

She rolled her eyes in retaliation. "That's right, compare me to your best friend who's a guy. Struck a chord in my heart and everything."

His smirk was back. "I have other methods of getting into your heart."

She laughed back. "You couldn't get into _anything_ I have." Millerna stared him down. "What was it we did that night in your bed?" The steamy look she was giving him could've fooled anyone. "_Absolutely nothing?_"

Allen stared back just as hard. "I didn't know you were so vulgar, _Princess_. Or else I would have gladly-"

She raised an eyebrow when he cut himself off. He didn't continue, just watched her over their almost empty bowl of cereal.

'What did I just start?' Millerna asked herself. Out loud though she said, "Okay, enough games. That project isn't going to finish itself." And she got up with the box and bowl.

Allen watched as she stashed the box back into its place and started to rinse out the bowl after eating the last few pieces in there.

Millerna was just putting the bowl onto the dish rack when she felt the familiar presence directly behind her. Her hands froze in motion while his moved in two different directions. His left was placed, lightly at first, on her hip while the right moved her hair from over her left shoulder.

Allen moved his face over her shoulder and breathed deeply, so she could hear and feel it cause a ripple throughout her body.

Millerna opened her mouth, about to protest. Anyone could walk into the house right now. They still had tons of work to do. This wasn't the time or place for...

But then she realized she wasn't really fighting the act. The only thing that worried her was the inconvenient setting.

She slowly set the bowl down and moved her hands to the edge of the counter and Allen thought for once that he'd won. The satisfaction for some reason though didn't do anything for him.

It was, however, when he started to pull back out of her personal space that Millerna quickly turned around and held his face so she could land a soft kiss.

And another. And another. And…

Each one moving further away from his mouth and following the trail of her fingers as they traced lines down to his jaw and then neck.

He was a guy. He was human.

The sounds he tried to fight but came out anyway scared Millerna at first. She still had no idea what she was doing. But she wasn't an idiot. She had read and watched movies and TV shows and above all else... she just tried to do what felt natural.

An arm curled like a snake around her waist and crushed her closer to him.

Allen stopped her actions when his face nestled into the crook of her neck and made her freeze again. He went on to show her exactly what she had done to him, only in reverse. Soft, but noticeable lips traced the invisible line up from her neck to her jaw.

Millerna felt her heart start beating fast when he first ceased her movements. When she felt his lips touch somewhere on her body, other than her own mouth, there was a pounding inside her that she couldn't understand.

It was when his right hand, the one that he hadn't used to hold her in place, moved to the front of her jeans that she realized.

Unfortunately he hadn't made it to her mouth when she whispered.

**xoxo**

It was another nice day, in which Dilandau found he had nothing to do. He hadn't seen Celena all day and admitted that yeah, he definitely missed her eager face.

'Smitten. I can't believe this.' He thought while lying carelessly over the sofa in the living room.

"Don't you have some homework to do?" Someone asked above him.

Dilandau opened his eyes to see his mother staring down at him with a frown.

"Uh…" He said, not really fighting the truth.

The older woman sighed and removed her hands from her hips and instead folded her arms. "Where did you go last night anyway? I see you ate the leftovers from dinner." She said while walking back to the kitchen.

He got up and walked in after her. "Visiting a friend." Was his response. "We just sat around playing video games for like two hours. His mom fed us, but of course I couldn't miss out on _your_ cooking." Dilandau grinned while his mother muttered under her breath about her son being such a kiss-ass.

"Which friend?" She questioned nonchalantly.

But they both knew where this conversation was going so Dilandau just groaned out loud.

She was looking through the fridge for something to drink. "Oh come on. Why don't you ever invite someone over? You're always heading out or going to someone else's house. Why can't we just meet your friends?" His mother asked with a slight whine.

Dilandau cringed. It's not that he had a problem with people meeting his parents. They were actually really nice and laid back. It only interfered with the image of school rebel he had tried to portray the past year and a half of high school.

Well that, and he really didn't have any friends to introduce them to. Until now.

"Okay." He finally said.

His mother looked up at him in surprise, not only that she'd won but that he didn't even put up a fight. It was kind of a let down.

"Okay." She said and went back to her business around the kitchen.

**xoxo**

"Shit." She muttered, after smacking right into someone on her way to the door.

"Are you trying to sneak out?" Allen asked mockingly, still standing in front of the closed front door that he had just walked through.

"Uh..." Celena stared up at him. "Well no, I was just trying to-"

"Leave before I got home?" He asked with a sigh and dug a hand into his hair.

The two stared at each other a few moments longer. Celena, ready to break the silence, opened her mouth. Allen stopped her with the shake of his head.

"Can we sit down and talk?" He questioned, glancing to the sofas hidden in shadows. The thick curtains were closed and no lights were on.

"Isn't it kinda late?" She shot back with a pointed look, though the last thing she meant was the hour.

"Come on." He grabbed an elbow and steered her over. He put her down on the sofa and sat across, on the supposedly sturdy coffee table. Allen gave her a very pensive look, wondering what to say, where to start. "I'm sorry..." He started, startling Celena.

"No, you don't hav-" She tried to cut him off but he waved off her attempt.

"I'm sorry," He began again. "That you think you should hide these things from me. That you don't think of me as that cool older brother like you did when you were younger. I'm sorry you don't think you can tell me everything or anything anymore."

Allen finally looked at his little sister. "You know I can't do anything to stop who you want to see, or who you hang out with or where or doing what. And there was a time I would be just like a third parent, trying to get all this information out of you and telling you it's for your own good." He paused, thinking. "But I don't want you to hate me or resent me."

"Allen." She finally interrupted, her voice so stern it stopped him. Celena look up from her hands, now taking a hold of one his own with hers. "I am _never_ going to hate you. And our relationship is never going to turn into those that some brothers and sisters have where they only speak to each other once a week when accidentally walking into the same room at the same time." She smiled, the same smile she probably gave everyone, including Dilandau.

This is what Allen was thinking as this moment passed, thus getting him back to the real topic at hand. He pulled back his hand slightly.

"Well the reason I'm really bringing up this whole thing now is because of that boyfriend of yours."

Celena had to give him credit for not cringing outwardly as he spoke the word. She only nodded.

The blonde boy leaned back to sit straighter, where as before he was leaning on his hands with elbows supporting the poor posture on his legs.

"You know, I'm not gonna say I don't care who you go out with. If he turns into some jerk who's treating you badly then I won't hesitate to crush his bones." Allen said this looking quite grim, making Celena flinch. "But I just want to say, Dilandau I'm okay with. I mean, not that you need my approval or anything because you have a mind of your own and all." He quickly covered, hoping he wouldn't invoke the feministic wrath.

Celena only smiled, unusually quiet in the dark room.

"It's okay that you... _like_ him." And with this said he did cringe a little. "Even though I kind of think of him as a brother and with you as my sister that just seems weird."

"Allen." She scolded, playfully pushing him. Luckily the coffee table didn't fall apart and he didn't fall off of it.

"Okay, whatever." He held up his hands in surrender. "You do what you want. I mean Dilandau's not completely out of his mind." Allen looked up in thought, pondering this.

"Yeah, and sex isn't the _only_ thing on his mind." Celena joked as well.

Allen looked back at her with a blank expression. Celena laughed weakly.

"You know... I don't even know why I brought that up. Seeing as the most we've ever done is kiss."

Allen still stared at her. "Maybe you don't need to tell me _everything_ that goes on between you two." He concluded.

"Oh come on, don't back down now. The big brother talks would be so much more interesting if I could you watch you squirm over all the details." The younger Schezar laughed to herself, thinking of all the things she had yet to experience that would make Allen's head spin.

"How come I never realized how evil you can be?" He asked accusingly, sitting back straight again.

"Because," She responded, using her fingers to list reasons. "You still thought I was five years old most of the time. And I totally used the innocent charade to my advantage. There are certain things you pick up from an all girls boarding school." Celena winked mischievously

"I am so jealous here. When am I gonna get that overprotective lecture, huh Allen?"

A new voice cut through the room, interrupting whatever moment the siblings had shared. The two looked up to the kitchen doorway where a head of disheveled hair was leaning against the doorframe holding a plate of chicken and stuffing his face. The light coming from the kitchen obscured his identity but Allen knew who it was already.

"Don't you ever have a home to go to?" He asked incredulously.

"Allen. Best big brother in the world." Celena started off, smiling sweetly. "I was just trying to get you to tell you Van's been here eating out of our fridge again. And I couldn't get him to leave or stop."

"Oh."

Van grinned widely. "Folken's still here. Our food is either gone or invisible to my eyes."

**xoxo**

He tried to be sneaky about leaving but that was pretty impossible since he had been sitting around in the kitchen while his mother was getting a jump start on dinner so she could take a relaxing bath.

Slowly Dilly slid out of the kitchen chair and stood. "Alright, well I think I'm gonna-"

His mother looked up from chopping something. "What?" She questioned distractedly.

Dilandau was trying to inch his way out of the kitchen but unfortunately the front door was within her line of vision as she glanced over her shoulder at him.

Finally she sighed. "Am I stopping you from leaving?"

He smiled in relief. "Thanks." And then turned to make his way out of the house.

She shook her head. "Like he still needs my permission."

Because he wasn't sure what Celena was up to and then deciding it was ok if he didn't see her every hour of the day, Dilandau made his way to the house of one of his favorite people.

The front door opened revealing a blonde that was even more stacked- er, just as pretty as Millerna.

"Hi, Millerna here?" Dilandau asked while glancing around.

Marlene nodded with a smile. "Sure, come in." After she closed the front door she looked up the stairs. "Millerna! You've got a guest!"

"Send her up!" Millerna called back without making an appearance.

Marlene turned to eye the boy critically. "You don't look like a girl."

Dilandau grinned charmingly. "Dilandau Albatou." And he held out a hand for her.

"Marlene Aston, Millerna's eldest sister." She replied back and took his hand for a quick, awkward shake. "Go on up. You'll find her room."

"That's pretty trusting of you." He said as he took to the stairs.

Marlene grinned at his back. "Well, come on. It's not like her bedroom window is _that_ big. You wouldn't make it out of here alive and I think you know it."

Upon entering the bedroom Dilandau noted, "That window's big enough for me."

"What?" Millerna questioned as she glanced up from her textbook. "Dilandau?" Her eyebrows went up in confusion and surprise. "What are you doing here?"

The boy just took a seat on her bed and looked around the room. "Haven't heard from you or Hitomi since lunch that day. And I was bored so I thought I'd stop in."

Millerna turned back to her work on her desk. "You could have just called. I was bored myself but then I remembered I should finish this project so I-" She stopped herself and went on reading.

Dilandau leaned forward with his hands clasped. "The project you have with Allen? How's that going?"

The blonde just shrugged while writing something.

"Badly?" He guessed.

Millerna paused in her writing as she thought about it. There was no way she wanted to tell anyone what had happened with Allen just an hour earlier. It was still awkward to talk about these things. It was embarrassing. It was Allen Schezar! Did she really want to be known as another one of his conquests? Then again they didn't really get very far so maybe she wasn't even considered-

"How's Celena?" She asked instead and went back to writing.

At the question Dilandau's eyes burned, unknown to the other occupant of the room. "Amazing."

Millerna stopped completely and turned around to look at him. "Wow. You really, _really_ like her. Amazing?"

He was suddenly meek and shy about it and only nodded.

"Then why aren't you with her right now?" Millerna asked him.

"She's busy or something I think." Then he shrugged. "Besides, I can't want to see other people? How is everything anyway? Your sister seems…"

Dilandau caught the warning look Millerna directed at him and thought better of finishing that sentence. Instead he grinned at her.

"So then when are you going to let us hang out with you and Celena?" Millerna asked.

"Who said I was stopping you?" He asked back.

She gave him a once over. "That little friend in your pants."

Dilandau gasped mockingly. "I'm a good boy!" He protested.

Millerna made a face to show she didn't quite agree with him. "Okay but all joking aside, Dilandau… is this like your first relationship?" She questioned seriously.

He looked uncomfortable. "Well no. And I'm not saying she's the first girl I've ever liked or anything either, but… it just-" He stopped, deep in thought about how to describe it. Then he looked back up and met her gaze. "Every time feels like the first time. And I haven't felt it in a while. You kind of forget what it's like to feel that way about someone. Then it happens again and…"

Millerna stared at him, listening so intently and trying to relate. But she wasn't sure she could.

She looked a little awkward as she asked, "Aren't there like, well, different ways of liking people? I mean there's liking them, lusting, and I don't know."

Dilandau stood up and walked around her room while picking up random objects, like the polar bear figurine on her bookshelf and the star shaped jewelry box on her dresser. Millerna still sat in her desk chair and watched him while thinking.

"I guess you're right." He shrugged after a few moments. "I've had the one-sided crush, the physical attraction and the I-want-something-more kind of feelings. Yeah, you're right. There are different kinds…" And then he was back to looking starstruck. "But I can tell this is one of those _everything_ relationships. She's clever and entertaining. She's more than just _pretty_. When I think about it, it has less to do with her physical attractiveness, even though she _is _hot. It's like some aura around her that attracts you."

Millerna smiled slowly as she realized that Dilandau was gushing about his love interest in a seemingly uncharacteristic way. It was good for him though.

"But everything though…" He suddenly turned to her quickly. "I mean you and Hitomi are awesome too. But Celena and I are so… compatible?" Dilandau paused to think about it. "Well, we go well together."

There was a pause as the electricity in the air fizzed out.

"Aw, look at you." Millerna cooed.

Dilandau's grin couldn't be broken by her teasing though. "There aren't any relationship games like you hear other people talk about either. That whole don't call before three days after date number whatever? Or the people who say the person who cares more is the loser? That's all bull." He smiled happily. "I like her. She likes me. We don't have to deal with that whole tip-toeing around each other crap or wondering who will admit something first."

"No… games?" Millerna spoke before she could stop herself. Dilandau just nodded enthusiastically while going back to her polar bear. 'That's what I've been doing all along. And we're not even in a relationship.' She thought to herself. "All those games and stuff, they're so time consuming and tiring." She sighed.

"Complete waste." And he glanced back with a raised brow in agreement. "I've dated girls who expect me to read their minds. I should apparently know when they're angry, but usually they just want attention."

"Or the type who claim there's no concrete relationship but still expect all the perks of one?" She said while turning back around to her desk.

Dilandau was excited all over again at a topic he knew about. "Yeah! I know those types too."

Millerna ground her teeth for a second as she caught sight of handwriting on a page of her book that wasn't her own.

"So what do you do about that?" She asked casually.

The boy glanced up from staring at a picture she had on the wall. "Move on."

**xoxo**

After the initial awkward feelings Allen got when it was revealed that his exchange with Celena had been seen, he and Van sat down in the living room as Celena opened the curtains and left the two to wreak their madness.

"So where have you been lately?" Allen questioned, flipping channels disinterestedly.

Van let out a particularly loud laugh. "I see you almost everyday."

The blonde only rolled his eyes. "Yeah I wonder why that is. You never used to be _this_ dependent on me."

"Don't worry, Folken's gonna be leaving soon." He replied with a grin.

The two stared at the TV in silence for ten minutes before Van glanced at his friend.

"What's going on with _you_?" Van questioned, turning fully to face him. "You're being so quiet. You're not even eating."

Allen's response was a twisted face. "Hey, _you're_ usually the one eating here. And nothing's been going on. There's just a lot to think about lately." He didn't look at Van once though.

Van mulled this over, glancing at the floor. "Alright. But I just came by to talk to you while killing some time. I think I'd have choked Merle or Folken if I stayed home all day."

"What do you mean? Where do you have to be later?" Allen afforded him a quick flick of the eyes and then went back to the dull program.

"Got a date."

The blonde froze, mind going blank. Finally he opened his mouth and turned to look at Van. "A what?"

"You heard me, Schezar."

"Hold on, you do know what a date is right? Just give me your definition of it so I know we're on the same page here." Allen let out a grin.

Van managed to glare instead of throwing something. "Don't peg me for a loser just because I don't operate like you do."

Allen blinked. "What does that mean?"

The dark-haired boy leaned back into the sofa he sat at, staring at his friend across the coffee table. He shrugged. "Just that I'm not renowned for striking like lightning into the hearts of any and all female in the vicinity. In fact I avoid the unwelcome attention most of the time, right?"

Allen looked uneasy, not wanting to agree with that point out loud.

Van laughed at him. "Come on, you think that stating the truth is gonna hurt my feelings or something?"

The blonde shrugged. "Can never tell with you. So who's the unlucky girl?"

"You know who. Celena knows who. In fact Merle, Folken and my mom probably know!" Van looked a little frustrated at this.

"They know you've got a date today?" Allen asked incredulously.

"No, of course not! You think I need Folken breathing down my neck and my mom telling me to invite her over afterward?" The two sat pondering this for a moment.

Shortly after, they continued watching the TV as Allen went on flipping channels uncaringly. The silence didn't bother them but Van had this overwhelming need to explain something.

"Hey Romeo, what's the longest you've been with a girl?" Van asked, looking up.

Allen shrugged once again. "Maybe two months or something. They usually aren't as interesting as I think."

Van went back to looking at the box but Allen picked up on his mood.

"What?" He questioned impatiently.

The dark-haired boy rolled his eyes away from the television and onto his friend. "Just that if that's how long you've lasted then there can't be much hope for me." He replied with evident sarcasm. Then he gave in with a sigh when Allen only stared him down. "Hitomi's all freaking out and stuff and I'm worried." He grumbled.

"So? Girls are weird like that." He responded, leaning back on the sofa and putting his arms across the top.

Van shook his head. "It's not like that. She's just nervous because of inexperience and all that." Allen nodded along, trying to seem helpful. "I get it and all… I mean she doesn't see it because apparently I seem all calm about it all most of the time, but I'm freaking out just as much."

Allen frowned. "I got you on the calm part; you definitely learned something from me, huh?" He asked rhetorically.

The commented was ignored and Van continued on. "And if I show that I'm just as nervous about it then I'm pretty sure she'll freak out more." He leaned forward, resting arms on his legs. "I really, really like her." He said in a low voice, obviously a little embarrassed to be saying it out loud.

More silence stretched on between the two as the TV played softly in the background, until a rather enthusiastic man came on trying to sell something.

"I think I maybe know how you feel…" Was the response that finally cut the tension.

Van looked up to find his best friend in deep thought.

**xoxo **

"You were right." She said, head tilted down and eyes roaming the sidewalk. "I did miss you."

They walked in silence for a moment as he watched her and she watched the ground.

Van finally looked up at the sky and sighed to himself.

Hitomi was startled as she felt his hand carefully grasp her own.

"I'm sorry about that. I wasn't trying to just be arrogant and prove a point. I was only getting you to open your eyes." He said, not looking at her.

She took her turn to stare at him and saw him turn red.

"You think I would have tried so hard if I didn't think-" He stopped walking and his gaze fell onto hers. "It's more than just… _wanting_ you. I mean, I know that you make me feel… happy in this weird, almost trapped kind of way. But I think… you know." Van turned away quickly, trying to hide his embarrassment at his confessions.

"It's weird seeing you so lovey-dovey." Hitomi said, laughing at him.

"Hey! I'm doing this for you! Don't go making fun of me now!" Van complained, looking like a child.

"Where are we going anyway?" She asked.

Van shrugged to himself and Hitomi stopped them from walking again as her jaw dropped.

"Is that an I'm-not-telling-you kind of shrug or an I-don't-know one?" She questioned, pointing at him in shock.

Van grinned and shook his head. "Well I didn't have some elaborate plan or anything. And did you expect to be sitting down in a fancy restaurant that I can't afford?"

She blushed and looked down at his words and they continued walking.

"Hey," He started, forcing her to look up when he didn't continue. "You don't mind if you have to go home late, do you?"

Hitomi stared at him suspiciously. "Why Van, if I didn't know any better I'd suspect you were taking me to some corner of the woods that we know doesn't exist around these parts and violate me horribly."

He only winked with a grin. "We're taking it slow Hitomi, come _on_." He said with sarcasm, "You're getting ahead of me here. That's date three." And he showed her three fingers.

"Thanks for the warning." She rolled her eyes. "Now I know when to bail."

Van shook his head as they wandered into a busy shopping area as the sun was setting. "So there are a couple of options here." He stopped so they stood by a bench.

The brunette looked up at him after tearing her eyes away from the scene of people.

"A movie. That's if you don't want us to sit around and have to talk or look at each other." He grinned. "It's also the choice if you wanna sit around in the dark and-"

Hitomi poked him quickly before he could finish. "And the other options?"

Van looked up in thought. "There's always getting something to eat. But I guess some people feel awkward eating in front of someone they don't know well enough when they're on a date."

She smiled. "I'm not really awkward about that whole thing. But…" Her smile dropped. "I'm not really hungry either. Any other ideas?"

"Um…"

"Van, did you seriously not have _anything_ planned?" She questioned with a skeptical look.

His head shot up. "Well we just need to kill some time before…"

"Alright, so a movie." She said decidedly, wondering what he really had planned for this date. "And no, it's not because we're going to sit in the dark and make out." She spoke just as he opened his mouth with something to say.

Van's face fell as she ruined his moment.

**xoxo**

She took a deep breath, and then treaded lightly down the stairs, though for once anxiety wasn't on her mind.

"Mom?" Millerna called out, casually walking into the living room.

"She's in the kitchen with Marlene. Apparently trying out some new recipe or blahblah." Eries said, glancing up from the television. "What's up?"

"I just need to talk to her about something." Millerna responded, already turning and heading out of the room and towards to back end of the house. Eries got up, turning off the TV and followed with nothing better to do.

Eries immediately leaned over the counter, staring at the pots on the stove and getting a whiff of something yummy. "Almost done?" She asked.

Marlene shushed her with some line about patience and the youngest sister sat down at the table, shuffling through the magazines uninterestedly.

"Hey mom, I was thinking..." Millerna began, with Eries watching her carefully. "About the arrangement."

At this Arianna finally paused in her tasks to glance at her daughter. "What was that, honey?" She questioned, lost on the subject Millerna was trying to bring up.

Millerna in turn, flipped a page of the magazine she was currently browsing, trying to look casual. "With Dryden Fassa. I mean the arranged marriage we were thinking about."

With these words, Marlene and Eries both stopped what they were doing and looked to their younger sister. Arianna nodded to herself, tasting a sauce of some kind.

"So you've been thinking about it then? But honey, isn't too early to be making a decision? You're not even eighteen yet. And you've still got another year of high school left. Things could change-" Arianna put down the spoon and turned to face Millerna with an understanding smile.

"No, I think it's better this way. I think I'm going to accept the proposal." Millerna said, now looking up to the three faces staring at her, two in horror and one with slight surprise. She stood up, heading to her mother. "Come on mom, it'll be better this way, right? And besides, there is such a thing as a pre-nup." She laughed.

Marlene and Eries exchanged looks.

"You're already thinking about a pre-nup?" The middle sister asked. "Isn't that a bit pessimistic then? For someone rushing into marriage before they're even of age?"

Millerna only shook her head as if they didn't understand a simple concept. "I'm not foolish. I've really thought everything through. I'm gonna call him tomorrow and meet up for a date or something. I'll tell him then." She grinned widely at her family.

"That's-" Arianna stumbled for a moment. "That's wonderful." She started, engulfing her daughter in a hug. "It's great that you've made your first real adult decision like this." She pulled back, looking Millerna in the eyes. "But you do know that being an adult also means you can always change your mind. I would never want you to get yourself in a situation you feel you couldn't get out of. None of us want you to subject yourself to something that makes you unhappy, or doesn't make you happy at all."

The three girls made strange faces.

"Isn't that the same thing mom?" Marlene asked cautiously.

Arianna pulled away and winked at her daughters. "Think about it."

"Thanks mom." Millerna finally replied, giving the older woman a quick kiss on the cheek and left the room with a grin.

She let out a breath with a triumphant smile upon exiting the room. "Perfect." She said to herself.

**xoxo **

**There really** isn't anything I can say here now is there?

Special thanks to **xStarletx **who fearlessly sent me a message and reminded me of this fanfiction. I had been randomly writing with whatever inspiration hit me in order to try and get back into this. See, I guess it doesn't hurt to bother the shit outta me, right?

No date and time at the top of this because I think I started it over a year ago.

Also the date scene is what I kept struggling with. Somehow it makes me uneasy, but maybe because I don't really have inspiration from my own life to draw on. Part of me cringes when trying to reread it.

Need to reread and edit.

5-27-10

12:44am

Right, so I took forever just to reread and stuff so it's finally time to post. I've forgotten whatever else I wanted to write down here.

5-29-10

11:33pm


	26. Chapter 26

6-28-10

4:20pm

**ALERT! This chapter might be mildly confusing as there will be flashback scenes inserted throughout. The flashback scenes will be whole scenes in **_italics_ **so you will be able to tell them apart from the storyline's present time.**

**xoxo**

**Title-Are you stalking me?**

**Chapter 26**

**By-Moon Prynces**

**xoxo**

"Yeah. So then when do you want to..." She trailed off while staring at the table. "Alright. Tomorrow then." She smiled happily and said goodbye before hanging up the phone.

Millerna spun around to see her sisters staring at her from the stairs. She jumped in surprise. Eries was sitting down while peering through the bars as Marlene stood two steps down and leaned over the railing.

"What's up?" Marlene asked with her arms draped casually on the banister.

Eries smiled in a way that meant she (possibly both of them) already knew.

Millerna just smiled despite their piercing gazes disguised with innocent faces. "I made a date to see Dryden. Just like I said I would." She said and turned to go to the kitchen.

As expected, her sisters followed as if they had nothing better to do. Which was pretty much true.

"Good thing tomorrow's Saturday." Eries commented.

"So how was school?" Marlene asked as she immediately headed to the fridge and brought out leftovers.

The youngest girl just shrugged after her and Eries sat down at the table. "The same." She replied.

"Who was it that came over yesterday?" Marlene asked again, and this time piquing the interest of the middle sister.

Eries no doubt assumed it was the same boy she had seen Millerna making out with just the other da... well actually now that she thought about it, more than two weeks had passed already.

"That was a really good friend of mine. Dilandau." Millerna said while playing with the salt and pepper shakers. Somehow the two inanimate objects were involved in a heated discussion.

"Mom'll be home late tonight so what do you guys want to eat?" Marlene asked while placing food on three plates before putting each into the microwave for it's solitary two minutes.

"You're not cooking?" Eries pouted while laying her head sideways on the table. She watched as the pepper finally got fed up and walked off, prompting the salt to do the same in the opposite direction.

Marlene rolled her eyes. "Ungrateful."

"Can't help that I miss a nicely prepared meal." More eyes were rolled.

"Hey! This is like a vacation for me!" The eldest argued. "You think I'm gonna be able to heat up leftovers when I get back home?"

"I thought you loved to cook?" Was asked.

"I do."

Somehow the argument didn't make much sense after that.

"Oh yeah." Millerna said to herself and looked up for a moment. "Shouldn't you be getting back to Chid and Duke soon?"

Eries was waiting to see the conclusion to salt and pepper's big fight. Marlene put two plates on the table in front of her sisters and put her own in the microwave.

"Yeah, just another day or two and I'll be gone." She sighed dramatically.

Salt and pepper suddenly both stopped and turned back around to face each other with their newfound distance. Then they ran... or tap-tap-tapped their way back to each other and were all happy after reaching a reconciliation.

"Hey!"

The objects were suddenly snatched out of Millerna's hands. Marlene shook her head disapprovingly and put the shakers back in their place. She then retrieved her own plate from the microwave and sat down to have a late lunch with her sisters.

Eries shot a grin across the table to her younger sister who shared the sentiments.

**xoxo**

"Who was it?" Varie asked as she came walking down the hallway after tidying up the master bedroom. She looked up and smiled in delight. "Allen! It's been too long since we've seen you!" She said, swooping in for a kiss to the cheek and enthusiastic hug.

Folken watched his mom and the blonde carefully. "Look who grew up." Was his only comment after closing the door.

Merle came bounding down the hallway to see what was going on because obviously she had heard the doorbell too.

"Allen!" She hopped over and gave him a hug as well. "Where have you been all this time?"

The only non-Fanel in the room smiled sheepishly and ran a hand into the front of his hair. "I have no idea. I heard you guys saw Celena already."

The group slowly made their way to the living room.

"Van didn't tell us you'd be coming over or I would've prepared something to eat." Varie said and glided into the kitchen.

Merle snickered. "With all the guests we're getting lately Mom keeps bringing out the really good food."

"So I'm being used for whatever benefits you guys can get?" Allen asked as he sat down and rested his elbows on his knees with his hands clasped together loosely. "Hey Folken, I hear you might never leave home."

Said male grinned back. "Is that what he's been telling everyone?"

"Why else would he be eating at my house all the time?" Allen shrugged. "Where is he anyway? School let out an hour ago."

The other two shrugged but he caught Merle smirk. Definitely something you shouldn't see a thirteen year old do.

"Yeah, Celena was here with her boyfriend." Folken responded, referring to the earlier topic. "But we didn't get to talk about much."

Allen shrugged. "Not gonna lie, there has been a lot going on. Remember when our parents enrolled her in boarding school?" He waited for the nod and folded arms from Folken. "Yeah well she came home for a visit like two months ago and asked to go to public school. So now she's back for good and going to school with Van and me."

"Well then she works fast. Already a boyfriend?" Folken said with some understanding.

Though Allen and him were three years apart they still shared that 'older brother' sense of duty. Van was an older brother as well but he didn't understand the responsibilities these two shared because he had fallen into the role of the middle child without complaint.

Allen shrugged. "We've talked about it."

Merle was sprawled across her very own sofa with eyes darting between the two. She dreaded the day when she would have a "talk" with Folken. She was now glad to have Hitomi to turn to in her times of need. Although maybe Celena could be an asset as well...

"Where is Celena now?" She asked suddenly.

The blonde shrugged. "I don't think she came home yet. Or maybe I missed her cuz I only dropped off my books and left."

Varie waltzed back into the room with a tray with glasses of water and some cookies. What really got everyone's attention was that she managed to make Allen's favorite sandwich (bologna with a bunch of odd additions like black olives and cucumbers).

"Wow, I can't believe you remember." He said and leaned towards the coffee table to take the plate she had set down.

"Why wouldn't I? If I can remember the preferences of these two," She motioned to her children and took a seat next to Folken on the large sofa. "Then I can certainly remember the one sandwich you would shove an old lady out of the way for."

Merle shot her mom an odd look at the choice of words.

"Thanks." Allen said before taking a bite.

"So how are your parents?"

He waved a hand while chewing. Finally he swallowed and said, "Flourishing careers and a rekindled romance. Things are really good. We just had this fancy dinner a few nights ago for some of their colleagues and friends." Allen moved the sandwich to take another bite but paused and then asked, "So where's Uncle Goau?"

Varie smiled widely. "He'll be home in a few days actually."

"Still too adventurous for you guys to handle?" Allen asked through his food.

"It pays the bills!" Merle piped up with a grin.

Folken nodded as well. "That and its fun." A grin appeared on his face as well.

"Folken likes to have fun?" Allen asked and pretended to choke on his sandwich. "So when do classes start again?"

He shrugged. "When they drag me back kicking and screaming. It's good to be home."

Varie made a sound of agreement and put her hand to his hair like he was still a kid.

"And no girlfriend?"

Merle made 'oooh' sounds while Varie smiled at Folken expectantly.

"No." He responded, and if Allen wasn't mistaken it sounded a bit grouchy.

"Ah." The blonde said with a hint of comprehension.

"I would ask the same about y-"

Before Folken could finish the front door opened and revealed Van looking pleased. All occupants of the room stared at him as he looked back in surprise.

"You're all in the same room. What's going on?" Van asked before his eyes discovered Allen sitting on the two-person sofa by himself.

"Hi honey, you hungry?" Varie questioned.

"Only when I'm breathing." He mumbled and dropped his bookbag by an end table before taking the seat next to his best friend. "What's up?"

"Everyone kept mentioning how I needed to visit your mom and stuff so I decided to drop in." Allen shrugged and finally set down the empty plate. He grabbed a napkin to get rid of stray crumbs without looking like a caveman. "Where were you?"

"Out with his girlfriend." Two people said with mischievous looks.

"Jinx!" Merle called out and pointed at Folken.

Varie sighed as she stood up and pushed away Merle's finger. "I thought we canceled that game?" She asked while heading to the kitchen.

"Don't worry about the food mom! I was kidding!" Van called just as she went through the doorway.

"We canceled jinx?" Merle asked herself thoughtfully, and then winced. "Oooh, yeah." She caught Allen's questioning look. "That, among other things..." She trailed off without explanation.

"Did you guys say-" Allen tried to ask but Van suddenly used the cookie he was about to eat to stick into his friend's mouth. Folken smirked.

"Can't hide the truth, little brother." The oldest in the room commented.

Allen chewed on that thoughtfully, the cookie and Folken's words.

"When will Hitomi be coming by again?" Varie asked from the kitchen.

Van groaned at the attention and put his head in his hands. "Now look what you started."

"I didn't start anything!" Allen argued through the cookie.

Folken got up and went to the kitchen while Merle watched the two bicker some more. He came back with a mug that probably had coffee and Varie followed behind with a plate of leftover lasagna for Van.

Allen grinned while Van was blaming him for all his bad luck. "I guess yesterday things were good."

"What happened yesterday?" Merle asked before Folken could.

Van looked at the roomful of people like a cornered animal. "Uh..."

_The local theater that wasn't part of a big Cineplex chain was having some marathon of a TV show from the past decade. And since it didn't really matter how many episodes they could watch for the one price they would pay (though of course Van insisted on being a man and taking care of that), that's what they chose to do._

_Hitomi realized he was right. The setting did dispel any awkwardness that lingered and prevented them from making much conversation except to mock some fashion choices of the characters._

_Van actually seemed pretty familiar with the show, though she had barely remembered it from her childhood._

_Throughout the two episodes they managed to watch before deciding to leave, she found her eyes kept straying to watch him instead._

_He caught the look only once. "What's up?" Van whispered with a grin on his face as his eyes kept glancing back at the screen._

_Hitomi shook her head and pretended to refocus on the show. But she was kind of wondering why she wanted to stare at him. Maybe they __**should **__have gotten something to eat so it would be okay to do so…_

_She smiled when he turned back to her at a comedic moment with his grin to make sure she recognized the hilarity._

_When the second episode was over she pulled at his sleeve._

"_Huh?" He asked when he turned to her._

"_Time to go yet?" She questioned him._

"_Oh yeah, sure."_

_And they left before the credits were over so Van wouldn't get sucked into the next episode._

"_So now we're going…?" She said, trying to get him to spill the beans._

_Van looked down at her as he led the way. "I'm not a fancy person Hitomi, where do you think we're going?"_

"_Um… back to your house?" She guessed with a confused expression._

_He rolled his eyes. "You wanna see my family that bad?"_

_Hitomi made a face. "That corner of the woods I was talking about earlier?" She tried again._

_Van laughed out loud. "Wow, that's actually pretty close."_

_He stopped walking suddenly and looked up._

"_What're you-" Hitomi tried to ask as she followed his example, but stopped short._

_She hadn't really noticed, because the inside of the theater was dark, but it had gotten pretty dark outside as well._

_They were standing in the middle of a clear expanse of space at a park. It was the area usually used by people for picnics and setting up volleyball nets or playing other sports._

_Hitomi glanced back at him, ready to ask what they were doing but he looked so content to just stare up at the sky._

_Finally she asked, "Doesn't your neck hurt?"_

_Van snapped out of it and shrugged. "Wanna sit down?"_

"_Uh… Sure." She agreed, while wondering what they could possibly be doing out there with no one around. Maybe she was walking into a trap?_

_Then again this was __**Van**__. A little more trust was in order._

"_I guess it's a good thing I wore pants." Hitomi said jokingly as they sat down on the grass. "But maybe I should have brought a soccer ball or something."_

"_You know how cliché this seems, don't you?" Van asked while putting his arms atop his knees._

"_Well I can't answer that until I know what you were going for." She answered, and then leaned in to whisper. "I don't want to hurt your feelings or anything."_

_He laughed at her. "I think my skin's thicker than that. Besides cliché's not always a bad thing, right?"_

_Hitomi wasn't paying much attention to him. "Is the sky brighter tonight or something?"_

_Van just shook his head. "Nope. Usually there are all the lights from houses and buildings and street lamps so you can't tell what it really looks like."_

"_Oh." She said while staring up at the night sky. After trying to take in as much as possible she turned to him. "So we're here to stargaze?"_

_The raven-haired boy shrugged. "It's just a nice setting, that's all. Maybe I just wanted to hang out around here."_

"_Maybe." She agreed._

_There was a pause that threatened to become awkward if no one spoke up. And the animals hiding in surrounding trees weren't going to do it._

Van wasn't willing to admit anything out loud to anyone in the room. Even talking to Allen about the previous day's events didn't seem necessary.

Sure things started out awkward and weird, but that was normal. He didn't mind. He still had faith things would be okay.

**xoxo**

"Can I have a bite of that?" She asked while pointing her fork in his direction.

"Why? You got what you wanted." He said and then took another bite.

She got grumpy easily. "So, I just wanted to try it!"

"But what do I get in return? It's not like I want to try... that!" He motioned to her bowl.

"Dilandau..." She whined and made a pitiful face.

"No! I wanted this all day!" He fought back.

"I'll flash the entire restaurant if you don't!" She yelled and then abruptly stood up.

Dilandau gaped. "Celena!" He hissed with his indoor voice. "Sit down!"

"No!" Celena folded her arms over her chest, which ruined her threat.

They glared at each other as Dilandau slowly put down his turkey burger and picked up the knife and fork he had no use for until now.

A girl who was only a few years older than the two came to their table and asked, "Is everything all right?"

"Yup." Celena said and slowly sank back down to her seat.

Dilandau glared with less venom as he slowly cut more than a bite of his sandwich with the utensils. As he slowly brought up the piece of his sandwich on the fork into the air for her to grab the tension dissolved. Celena plucked it off the fork and took a bite while smirking in satisfaction.

The waitress watched in awe.

"Can I get another soda?" Dilandau asked with a grin.

The girl jumped and nodded before leaving the two alone.

"Happy?" He asked the girl across from him.

She nodded. "Wanna try my soup now?"

Dilandau shrugged in a 'don't really care' way. He looked up to see her holding out her spoon with the other hand cupped under it.

"I thought it was vegetable soup?" He asked after eating it.

"It is."

"Well then there aren't enough vegetables."

"I ate most of them already." She said sheepishly after retracting the spoon.

"Figures." He rolled his eyes. "Now I'm gonna go home craving vegetable soup."

The girl came back with Dilandau's soda and silence reigned while they kept eating.

"So what're we doing after this?" He asked after pausing in his task.

Celena looked up after finishing the last of her soup. "I don't know. It's Friday, but then again I have a test on Monday I should start studying for."

Dilandau tried to suppress the disappointment and nodded.

"But," She spoke again and he didn't take that last bite just yet to instead look up. "It _is_ Friday." Celena grinned.

Dilandau grinned right back across the table. He ate the last bite and bought himself time while she sipped her water with expectant eyes.

He was wiping his mouth daintily with a napkin when she asked, "Well?" in irritation.

"Well," He started off. "I'm not sure if you were wondering about it and all."

Celena stared, waiting for the rest. She had suspicion that he was just messing with her and building up suspense for nothing.

"About why we never hang out at my house that is." He continued.

No one noticed her eyes light up.

"So," Dilandau stopped in thought. "Wanna see how the other half lives?" He asked cheekily.

"Only if it's not contagious." She said smartly.

After successfully causing a scene and filling their stomachs the pair left with high hopes for the weekend. Dilandau's house wasn't as far out of the way as Celena thought and so she was even more curious as to why he avoided the topic.

"So..." She said when he announced they were just a block away. "Is there something I should be warned about? You have a doll collection in your basement?"

A grin tugged at his lips and he looked down without a word.

"Or your parents are really spies from another country." She went on.

Dilandau raised a brow at her and shook his head.

"Or," She said with a very thoughtful look.

Celena stared ahead with a finger to her lip. Dilandau watched as she didn't bother to continue. They were almost there but he didn't say anything, just silently led the way.

"Or?" He asked.

"Or..." She paused again, not for dramatics but just because she was unsure. "You just don't want me to hang around at your house. I get it if things are private at home and you don't want anyone barging in and-"

Dilandau grabbed her wrist to stop her and engaged in an impromptu kiss, cutting her off from her thoughts. He didn't let up for a while and got a little lost before finally pulling back.

"If I can let your tongue in my mouth I'm sure I can let you into my house." He grinned like an ass.

Celena gasped at his language. "Hey! I believe it was the other way around!" She protested.

He didn't listen and took her hand to lead them up the walkway.

"You're an only child, right?"

He nodded while sticking a key in.

"Your parents made the right choice." She smiled evilly.

Dilandau paused just before pushing the door open. "Is that because the world is a better place without another kid like me or it's good there isn't a sibling being tortured by me?"

"Take your pick." Celena responded and followed him inside.

"Oh mom!" He called once they took off their shoes.

"Aw, he still calls her mom." She said, wiping away a fake tear.

He shot a look over his shoulder. "What else would I call her?"

"Queen?" She guessed. "Empress?"

Dilandau ignored her as he walked from the living room to the kitchen to find a note on the fridge. As he grabbed it Celena came through the door.

He looked up blankly. "She's gone out."

"We've got the house to ourselves?" She questioned and leaned over the counter.

"Isn't that what I just said?" He asked back.

Celena grinned. "Don't get your panties in a twist. If I didn't know any better I'd think this was a plot to introduce me to your mother or something."

Dilandau smiled and walked closer, making her turn around to watch him. He stepped into her personal space and placed his hands onto the counter behind her. Then he leaned in, making her lean back.

"Maybe it was." He whispered before he put his lips on hers.

One of her hands grabbed the front of his shirt while the other went back onto the counter for support.

"Dilandau?" She asked quietly after they broke apart, though his face didn't move so far away.

"Yea?" He asked back.

"You like me in one piece right?"

The boy gave a completely confused look as he answered. "Yea..."

Was this some sort of riddle?

"Then please stop trying to snap me in half here." Celena requested and finally opened her eyes.

The hand on his shirt pushed him back a step so she could stand upright again. Dilandau realized maybe he had been a bit too aggressive and maybe he _did _almost break her back.

Oooh, now that would have been a sight.

**xoxo**

It would be ridiculous to say she wasn't nervous. Because the entire situation was going to completely determine the course the rest of her life was going to take. So being nervous was okay. It was pretty much necessary.

Millerna sat around at the coffee shop Dryden had suggested, because it was closer to his college campus. He mentioned he had two Saturday classes but still wanted to see her as soon as possible. He also insisted she get whatever she wanted (they had great coffee, or so he heard) because he was going to pay.

The blonde glanced around at the establishment and noted that there were a lot of college students roaming around this area. They all looked so put together and with purpose.

Millerna wondered how she would manage college and a marriage. She sighed and got up to get herself something.

Looking around she wondered if she stood out from everyone. Could they tell she was just a high school student?

She glanced down at the simple jeans and tee combo. The only thing that spiced up the look were the random bracelets on her arm and her hair in a ponytail. She had managed to escape the house before Marlene got a hold of her. Otherwise she might be decked out in a wedding gown already.

Just as the cashier handed her the cappuccino another hand shot forward with a bill.

Millerna looked up to see Dryden smiling as he paid for her drink. As much as it pained her, she didn't fight the gesture. It would only hold up the line.

Once settled into another table across from each other Millerna went to take a sip of her coffee while Dryden placed his chin in his palm and watched her.

"Hi." He said simply.

After a moment of her blank gaze the blonde broke out into a grin. "Hi. Sorry." She said while shaking her head at herself. "It's just a little weird. I don't exactly hang out around college campuses."

Dryden smiled back as well, admiring her features. "Sure. Sorry I couldn't suggest somewhere closer to home. It's just I've got class in only forty-five min-"

"Don't worry about it. I'm here aren't I?" And Millerna copied him by placing her own chin in her palm and leaning forward. "So how is class anyway?"

"It's been a good day so far. I've gotta get home and start on a paper after this class though, otherwise I would have been free."

She scoffed. "And give up your education for me?"

His grin widened. "Can I just say how unexpected it was that you called and wanted to see me?"

"What?" She sat up in confusion.

"Well, yeah. The last time I saw you was at your house w-"

"When I freaked out and fled the scene." She finished with recognition and a wry smile. "Sorry about that too." Millerna glanced at her coffee before something occurred to her. "Not that you did anything that made me-"

"Freak out?" He supplied.

"Can I blame it on the teenage hormones then?" Millerna asked with a shrug.

"How old are you again?"

She smirked. "You're kidding, right? You definitely remember!"

He shrugged in the 'ah, ya got me' way. "Just making sure a birthday hasn't passed."

Millerna just laughed at him. "Don't worry. I understand. You think I'm jailbait."

Dryden suddenly choked on air as she chuckled at him. He adjusted the glasses on his nose. "Wow. Innocent exterior."

Her grin gave credence to the thought.

"So, why are we here anyway? Not that I don't enjoy your company or anything." He questioned curiously.

Millerna wondered how long she could keep him in suspense. Maybe he would wait and forget about his class...

"I wanted to say," But she was still just an inexperienced girl and so her shyness came through. Apparently she was a better tease with A-

The unfinished thought stopped her.

"Just that I think it'd be nice if we actually got to know each other. That day we met was more than a month ago. A lot has happened and made me realize I am really open to the idea of an arranged marriage." She spoke confidently. She placed her elbows on the table and clasped her hands in the air. Coupled with her slow smile, she looked every bit comfortable in a coffee shop just off a college campus.

Dryden admired her once again, though this time for the attitude and personality he saw in her.

"I'd like that." His eyes darted from hers to the tabletop modestly.

**xoxo**

Hitomi was a pretty healthy teenager. For the most part she didn't eat much junk food or sweets. She could easily jog two miles without getting winded. She could have been on the track team if she wanted.

But today, a Saturday, and because of her normally energetic body she was forced by her mom to go out and run errands. And not just the regular 'go to the post office and pick up some spinach while you're at it' errands. More like the 'I need you to go five miles out of your way to this one store I _know_ has this _one_ _ingredient_ I desperately want and while you're at it can you get me a really good pumpkin for some pie?' errand.

A pumpkin? Really?

The brunette was too exhausted from trying to drag the thing back home. She was wondering why people didn't use those red wagons that kids used to play with anymore. It would have been really useful.

Just as she turned the corner she caught sight of a familiar face with an unfamiliar one. She stopped in mild surprise for a moment.

They were just crossing the street and laughing together. Soon they would cross paths if Hitomi would get her feet moving.

She did.

And then the couple suddenly stopped after reaching the sidewalk and she kissed his cheek and they said their goodbyes.

Hitomi watched as the guy turned to walk back the way they had come. She slowly strolled up to the blonde girl who was watching her companion leave.

"Hi Millerna."

Said blonde gasped and jumped before turning to see her friend standing there.

"Hey Hitomi." She said, moving her hand to her hair only to realize it was still up in a ponytail.

"What's up?" Hitomi asked cheerfully, ignoring the awkward tension.

"Oh nothing. I was just..." Millerna looked around and then gave up on the obvious attempt at lying. "Just met up with someone for coffee." She said.

"Oh. So you headed back home?" Was asked.

The blonde noticed the heavy looking bag. "What've you got in there? A pumpkin?" She asked jokingly.

Hitomi stared. "No." She said. "Actually, I've got two." Her response was emphasized by the 'go ahead and say it' look.

Millerna chose not to say it.

The two began the trek towards their houses, though not very close together they were still in the same general direction.

"Need some help?"

Without answering Hitomi held up the bag. "Thanks." She smirked as it took Millerna a few feet to adjust to the weight. "So who'd you have coffee with? A guy?" She asked slyly.

"What? No!"

She shot a look. "I saw you."

"Oh, well ok then yea." She paused. "So how are things with you then? I didn't see you in school yesterday."

"I spent lunch begging my science teacher for a makeup exam." Hitomi said breezily.

"You failed?" Millerna asked in surprise.

"No, I just wasn't satisfied."

"Oh. So what'd he say?"

"_She_ said she was giving the entire class extra credit. And then she tried to ask me for an in-depth review on her teaching methods. It's why I spent the next period eating yogurt in class."

"Hmm."

Hitomi paused with a fidgety look. "Uh... so did I tell that I went out with Van the other day?"

Millerna glanced at her friend. "No. You mean like a date?"

"Um..."

The blonde became excited. "So how was it? What'd you do? Do you even want to talk about it? I could come hang out at your house and hear all the details! It's your first date... _ever_, right?"

Hitomi stared wide-eyed. "Uh..."

"_So, you know I have a sister and brother," Van started, causing her to look at him. "You have siblings right?"_

_Hitomi turned to face him with her legs crossed Indian style. "Yeah, but just a brother. Actually, didn't I mention him before?" She said thoughtfully. "He's Merle's age."_

_He nodded. "And he's also a brat like she is?" He questioned._

_She playfully pushed him. "Well I don't want to admit it but since you already stated the obvious, yes." Hitomi paused as she reminisced. "But Merle's not that bad."_

_Van gave a suspicious look. "You and her have some secret going on."_

"_What?" She jumped at his conclusion. "No we don't! I barely know her. We traded some books maybe but…"_

"_Uh huh." He nodded with a serious look that said he wasn't that dumb._

"_Well, so what?" She countered. "We're girls. We can have secrets if we want. Just the same if you and Allen want to have secrets too." She hinted with an elbow nudge._

"_Are you accusing me of being gay again?" He demanded._

"_Of course not." Hitomi said nonchalantly and looked up. She smiled when he wasn't looking._

"_By the way, as much as I like the time to think without you kicking my chair you should really get to class and start doing the work." She scolded. "Seriously, how do you and your troublemaker friends expect to finish high school?"_

"_Oh, you know. Biker gangs only require you to own a leather jacket and… a bike." He smirked. "I'm getting the training wheels off of mine tomorrow."_

"_I'm so proud." She commented. "Just make sure to wear a helmet. Ten miles an hour is just enough to end up road kill."_

_Van laughed. "Thanks. I think I'll just take Merle's."_

"_The pink one with sparkles and hearts?" She asked happily._

"_No, it's purple with stars. Get with it." He made a 'duh' face._

"_But really," Hitomi said._

_He interrupted her lecture before she really started. "Don't worry about it. I'm on it already." Van smiled. "__**Mom**__."_

"_Oh, you __**didn't**__." She threatened._

_His response was to stick out his tongue. She tried to shove him over but it didn't quite work. So she retracted the claws and then nothing._

_She decided the view wasn't good enough. Hitomi was the first to give up their position and just take her chances lying back flat on the grass._

_Sure there were bugs and dirt and other things that shouldn't be in her hair but she could go home, take a long shower and all would be forgotten._

_Van glanced at her and followed the example. The view was suddenly amazing._

"_You know, I was wondering…" Hitomi said slowly without looking to the person next to her._

"_Yes?" He questioned after turning to watch her._

"_Because you're not exactly afraid to admit it…" She went on while gazing blankly at the sky._

_He grew anxious. "You're doing this to me on purpose." Van said in a flat voice._

_Hitomi finally turned to watch him with a cheeky smile. "Exactly how much do you like me anyway?"_

_Van was taken aback by the question. Surely he was hearing things, because the way she had reacted to his confessions before showed she was more than a little uncomfortable with just the idea. So how in the world did she suddenly turn around quick enough to start asking such a thing?_

_Were they already at that point in the relationship and he just didn't know it?_

"_Um… this much?" And he spread his arms out in the air above them as far as he could to create the imaginary space._

_She stared. "Only enough to cushion two thirds of your body if you were to fall from the twenty-seventh floor of a building?"_

_Van quirked an eyebrow in a 'what the…' kinda way. "No." He finally responded. "Only enough to follow you around school like an idiot and spend a good amount of my energy trying to convince you that going out with me isn't a bad thing._

"_Oh." She said and turned back to the sky._

_There was some silence._

"_What would I be doing on the twenty-seventh floor anyway?" He asked._

_Hitomi turned back with a grin. "Because the twenty-sixth floor where your interview was scheduled was closed due to a leaky pipe problem that led to a bunch of plumbing work. It got really messy."_

"_Ah. I see." He waited a moment. "But was this like a job interview or was I interviewing someone?"_

_She shrugged. "It's your interview. You tell me."_

_When he was back to staring full force at the sky Hitomi turned her face slowly to watch him. His eyes were big and bright and maybe it was just because it was the darkness causing his pupils to dilate but she could see a color deeper than just brown. _

_She could see his clear, slightly tanned complexion up close. His hair didn't look like a complete mess for once. Because she finally realized it was just kind of his style. His hair fell that way because it obviously knew him better than she did. And even when she commented on his hair and he pretended to be embarrassed about it he probably liked it._

_Van didn't do anything as he felt Hitomi's eyes on him. He just laid there with his hands behind his head as a cushion. It did make him a little self conscious to be examined with the close proximity but he tried not to twitch, blink too much or accidentally let his eyes flicker over in her direction._

_Hitomi stopped herself from the obnoxious staring and redirected her gaze to the stars. Though it didn't affect her memory, which was now emblazoned with the fact that he looked good in red shirts._

_Her heart rate suddenly quickened when his hand between them brushed hers until she grasped it back with her own. She took a moment to close her eyes and survive that whole heart stopping moment that passed through her._

'_Firsts aren't so bad.' She thought. That heart stopping moment was kind of exhilarating, like the descent on a roller coaster. It wasn't scary unless you let it be._

_Hitomi sat up suddenly and stared ahead._

"_What?" Van asked, shifting up onto his elbows._

_She turned back to him and slowly pushed his shoulder so he was back flat on the grass. And as she moved him back she inched over his personal space as well. Before she finally let her lips drop a kiss._

_On his cheek._

_Van stared up wide-eyed at the dark expanse of sky dotted with stars._

_Hitomi only pulled back slightly and sighed against his cheek. Then she moved her lips elsewhere._

As excited as Millerna seemed, Hitomi didn't really want to recount all the details to anyone. It was embarrassing and new to her. Somehow letting someone else in on it would just taint the feelings and memories.

She wasn't feeling uncomfortable or unsure about anything so there wasn't a need to talk things out with someone. Things were okay.

Well, except for the upcoming tests and projects she had due.

**xoxo**

**Well as **this chapter ends I want to address some (random) things.

I do realize that this chapter was significantly shorter than the last one and I'm trying to keep them around 5,000 words from this point on because I do understand your frustrations with longer chapters. I'm sorry if you thought the last one was too long but there was a lot I wanted to cover and I couldn't just cut it off at a certain point because it seriously did not make sense to me. **But I would like to know, how long do you think chapters should be from this point on? This chapter is 6308 words,****not including the normal stuff at the top (50 words) and this author's note at the end (902 words).**

There was something I wrote in an earlier chapter where I thought it was unnecessary to bring in more characters because they weren't essential to the storyline. But now as things are progressing and I see that Millerna's sisters have a profound effect on who she is, as well as her parents, I'm rethinking this. Van's family has become a big part of things too. I realize I was trying to narrow the world down too small. Now I'm not sure if you all were wondering whatever happened to Van's father because of the vague description Van gave in an earlier chapter. I just got too used to not having him around. Well, he is mentioned and I'm wondering if he's going to be making an appearance. Probably. Along with the disappearance of some others.

Now this is something that I would hope you all felt was okay from the beginning; questions. I realized that I'm literally "behind the scenes" here and I know so much about the characters and their pasts and ages and whatever. Some things that aren't mentioned or don't have an important role and yet I know these certain details. Like the ages of Marlene and Eries? Yup I know that. How many days have seemingly passed in the story? What I think about certain characters? - **My point is that if there is anything you still don't know or are confused about then go ahead and ask about it! **I would rather try to reply in separate messages to you personally unless it seems like something that could benefit everyone, in which case it might be at the end of the next chapter. Just know that I can't answer some questions if it will be a spoiler for the future. But it doesn't hurt to ask.

You know I want to say... going into a story like this where you don't have a definite ending ready or have all your chapters planned... a "slice of life" kind of story is... To be honest I had like over ten chapters well planned out when I started. And then for like the next ten chapters I always had 2-5 chapters ahead of notes written down. Now it's a "deal with it when the time comes" thing (with minimal notes, and then more notes are added when I get to that chapter...). Okay what I meant to say is that when I started this, and also my other pride and joy "Different Colors", I went in with confidence and satisfaction. I never thought the days would come when I didn't feel like writing or I would ever fall out of touch with the stories or characters. You don't think the time will come when you're easily disheartened or too tired or just get busy with something else.

But it does happen and I'm sorry for making you wait. I'm grateful for any and all support I receive and I don't just do it for other people. I've discovered what it means to be writing for myself. Because sometimes _I _really want to see what happens and _I_ want to know how it ends. I like to go back and reread things that I've written. Usually I write because of my need to see this (type of) story. Because I want to read something like this and so I write it so I can read it myself.

And another note that has nothing to do with this story or anything I've written... I'm in the process of rewatching Gilmore Girls from the very beginning and ohmygosh do I love this show. I loved it when I first started watching it on WB and I am loving it all over again. If there is any free time in your schedule you should watch an episode. Any episode. You will love it.

Lastly, I am hoping to get chapters out sooner. It has taken me less than a week to get this done because I tried to keep it short. But I do need to get writing on some other things (other than fanfiction too) as well as tidying up some things in my life. I hope I can keep up.

Everything has been reread, edited, and now I just need to check the word count on a couple of things before posting. I wanted to refrain from posting directly on the Fourth of July because I know a lot of you live in the USA and it's a "major" holiday so you have things going on but I also want to get this out ASAP.

Sorry about the long end note.

7-4-10

2:30am


	27. Chapter 27

7-7-10

11:23pm

**xoxo**

**Title-Are you stalking me?**

**Chapter 27**

**By-Moon Prynces**

**xoxo**

A tall figure leaned on the doorframe while holding a steaming cup of coffee in front of his face in contemplation.

He stared down at the unmade bed in front of him, waiting.

Finally a voice said, "Folken, stop being creepy, would you?"

Though slightly muffled through the sheets, blankets and pillows, he got the point across.

Folken smirked and took a sip from his mug. "Aren't you gonna wake up on my last day?"

Van stilled a moment (though to anyone else he had been still the entire time) and his eyes opened. He slowly propped himself up on his arms and turned to look at his older brother.

"What?"

"School for me soon. I said a week and I've already overstayed by one day."

"You're leaving? _Today_?" Van asked in disbelief. He sat up and ran a hand through his hair while staring at the blanket. "Wow. That was a long week."

Folken shrugged, and then pushed off from the wall support. "Get up sleeping beauty."

**xoxo**

Everyone in the Aston house had been up since nine a.m. All four females sighed their way down to the kitchen.

For once Eries went about making eggs while Millerna did the pancakes. The only thing left for Marlene was coffee and Arianna watched her daughters work magic.

There wasn't much talk until Marlene insisted they eat in the dining room.

"It is a big day, isn't it?" Marlene asked rhetorically.

Eries sighed, obviously depressed. "Yeah." She responded half-heartedly.

Arianna smiled at them. "Stop looking so sad. It's not the end of the world."

Millerna plopped into her chair after setting down the plates. "I'm pretty sure the world does end after high school." She commented while pouring syrup everywhere.

Eries nodded and stuck a forkful of eggs in her mouth.

"Besides," Arianna continued, ignoring their gloomy banter and expressions. "You've been here for over two weeks. It's time you got back to your lives." She looked to Eries. "Don't you have classes starting soon?" She asked, and then switched to Marlene. "And you. You have a husband and son waiting for you."

Marlene smiled in remembrance. "Yeah." She said with her head in her palm while pushing around her eggs with the fork in her other hand. "I do miss them. But we don't see you and Millerna enough."

Millerna chose not to say anything.

It was pretty surprising how her opinion of their visit had turned around so many times. Didn't she have mixed feelings about this visit in the beginning? And now she was missing them before they even left.

"I wonder how they're doing." Marlene said, breaking up Millerna's thoughts.

"What?" She questioned.

"Duke and Chid." The eldest daughter sighed. "He's not incompetent. He knows how to cook and use the washing machine but he's lazy like me sometimes. You know once I accidentally gave Chid the same outfit two days in a row?"

There was laughter all around.

"What- what happened?" Eries asked through her chuckles.

"His teacher sent a note home asking if everything was okay." Marlene scowled. "So embarrassing."

"All I've got waiting for me are big books and crazy professors." Eries sighed. "I don't wanna go." She whined childishly.

"You can always come back." Arianna started, lighting up the girl's face. "When you've graduated."

Said girl scowled too. "That's a whole semester away!"

"Yeah but you'll probably move back in when it's over right?" Millerna questioned and lifted the fork to her mouth.

Eries shrugged. "I thought I'd start looking for a flat in the city. I've got a job set up for me already."

"Just don't overwork yourself." Marlene was telling their mother. "Seriously what's up with your hours? You were never this addicted to the job."

Millerna nodded. "Finally, someone else can try talking sense into her."

Arianna was rolling her eyes as her daughters ganged up on her.

"Yeah, but she only does it because there's just this big, empty house and she'd rather be busy." Eries said with a shrug and took another bite of her food.

"Hey, I'm still here." Millerna argued, pointing a fork across the table at her sister.

Marlene rolled her eyes this time, at the bickering.

"You're already dating Dryden! You'll probably be married at eighteen just like Marlene!" Eries argued back, though not maliciously.

The words still had a profound effect. All four quieted as they realized this truth.

If Millerna did keep on her current path then she just might be out of the house as soon as she graduated high school.

"Anyone want more pancakes?" Marlene asked, looking to the plate in the middle that wasn't empty.

**xoxo**

"Are you sure you have to leave today?" Varie asked worriedly.

"I was supposed to leave yesterday, Mom." Folken responded. He put his head in his hand and watched his mom clean up around the kitchen.

"This sucks." Merle said opposite her brother at the kitchen table.

"If you keep encouraging him, he might never leave." Another voice said, walking into the room.

"Van." Varie scolded. She then turned back to her oldest son. "But tomorrow your dad's coming home and you haven't seen him since before the semester."

Folken shrugged. "What can I do? Classes begin again tomorrow."

"Missing one day wouldn't hurt." Merle said.

"Missing a day of college is like missing a week of high school." Van responded before taking a bite out of an apple. Folken nodded, with slight appreciation.

Varie turned around after wiping the kitchen counter with a dish towel. She sighed after folding her arms and stared at her three children.

Merle and Folken still sat at the table and Van stood by Merle's chair. They all stared back at her expectantly.

"Okay, go." She said with a shoo-ing motion.

All three left the room like soldiers.

Merle decided to sit down and watch TV in the living room. Folken followed Van back to his room.

"How'd you know I wanted to talk?" The younger boy asked.

"I've known you all your life." He said simply.

Van sat down on the unmade bed while Folken took a seat at the desk.

"What's up?" He asked after the two were comfortable.

Van fidgeted for a moment before jumping up and picking things off the floor. CD's were put in their place, clothes were folded or put in a pile for laundry and useless papers were thrown away.

Ten minutes passed by until the room looked perfect (except for the laundry pile). Then Van stood around a second, admiring his work and also looking for anything else out of place.

"Thanks."

Folken looked up from staring out of the window patiently. He only saw Van's back.

"For your advice before, with Hitomi." There was a pause. "I know I was upset and acting ungrateful." He turned around to stare down his brother.

"But?" Folken prompted.

"But I'm still-" He stopped short.

"Still?" Folken parroted.

Van finally looked up and shot his brother a look with his brows raised. "Can't make this easy can you?"

He shrugged. "Can't get any easier than this." A smile crept up on his face.

"What I'm saying is... I still don't know exactly what I'm doing. And even though it seemed like I turned down your help before..."

"I didn't offer any help. I was just observing and giving my opinion."

Van rolled his eyes.

Folken's eyes narrowed a bit as he stared down his sibling. "But," He started. "If you ever did need help or advice or any of those things I'm here. Well, I'll be a town over when I get back to school but I'm here if you want me to be."

"They made phones for a reason." Was the quick reply. "Then again, how much help can you be when you haven't been in a relationship in years." Van smirked.

The older of the two glared, although without any real venom. "Should I retract my offer then?"

Van walked to the door and smiled innocently. "You wouldn't."

Folken sighed and got up from the chair. "Bah."

As soon as he opened the door he asked, "Hey Merle, wanna play a board game before Folken leaves?"

"Only if he doesn't cheat."

Said person shook his head. "I make no promises."

**xoxo**

She stood watching the scene and getting teary-eyed. Millerna rolled her eyes at their mom.

"So remember to call when you get back." The youngest daughter instructed.

Mockingly, her sisters saluted with a 'yes ma'am!' Millerna gave a wry smile.

"Are you sure you've packed everything?" Arianna questioned.

"Completely sure."

"I dunno."

Marlene nudged Eries.

"Oh yeah! Sure, of course." Said girl looked back at her sister with an 'are you happy now?' expression. "But mom, it's not the end of the world. I'll be back before you know it, eating out of the fridge and sleeping on the sofa with the TV on."

"And with that delightful thought in mind," Millerna began. "Your cabs are here." She said after peeking through the curtains near the front door.

"I could've just taken a bus." Eries still protested.

"Me too." Marlene joined in.

Arianna shook her head and Millerna came up to rest her head on her mother's shoulder. "Nope. I've already got the tab too." She smiled and turned to the girl near her.

"Mom!" Both of the older girls said as if it were the most scandalous thing they'd heard.

"Wait till they see the gifts in their suitcases." Millerna said to her mother.

The two shared a look as Eries glanced down at her bag unsurely, wondering if she could tear into it right then, and Marlene opened the front door to squint at the patiently waiting cabs suspiciously.

After all was said and the two had left, Arianna and Millerna sighed.

"Well, now what?" The woman asked.

There was another deep sigh from the girl. "Homework." She spoke as if the mere word was exhausting.

Arianna smiled and wandered her way into the kitchen while Millerna skipped up the stairs to her room.

She decided it was better to finish the project without Allen. There really wasn't much need for him except to put his name on it before they handed it in.

Millerna took the poster board sitting by the wall and grabbed the pencil cup filled with pens and markers of different colors. She put everything down on the floor where there was open space and then retrieved the written up report, reminding herself to type it up later.

"Millerna!" A familiar voice called from downstairs.

"Yeah?" She called back while heading out into the hallway and towards the stairs.

"Phone for you." Arianna said, holding out the device for her.

The girl jogged down a few stairs and stretched to grab it. Her mom smiled secretly and went back to what she had been doing before as Millerna turned back around.

"Hello?"

"Hey."

She smiled. "Hi."

"So I was thinking..."

**xoxo**

"So," He started, picking up the duffel bag. "What are you guys gonna do without me?"

"Be able to sleep in." Van said with a smirk.

"I'll have your father call you when he gets in. It's really too bad you can't stay a day longer." Varie said in dismay.

Merle piped in appropriately with, "Aren't you gonna miss your bus?"

Folken glanced at the clock and flinched. "I hope not."

Then Varie moved in to start the hugging, followed by Merle. Promises were made and Folken nodded along with everything, hoping the semester would end quickly.

"I'll walk him out." Van said as he followed his older brother down the walkway, leaving their mom and sister to watch by the open front door.

"You don't have to worry so much, you know." The older boy said.

Van shrugged. "I'll try."

They reached the sidewalk and turned right. The bus stop Folken was going to take was two blocks away. They arrived with a few moments to spare as the line of people were just getting on.

Standing at the back of the line with his brother, Folken spoke up.

"I'm here if you need anything." He said just as he got nearer to the door, and turned to walk up the steps.

"So am I."

He stopped and looked back to see Van staring with a serious expression that slowly faded into a smile. He nodded once and then got on.

**xoxo**

"You know that project is due on Friday and it's Monday."

She turned to look at him over her shoulder. "Did someone remind you or something?" She asked.

Allen rolled his eyes. "I remembered on my own, thanks. So when are we going to get together and finish this already?"

Millerna saw something more than the innocent question. It was a gaze filled with something she'd rather not dwell on. "There's no need to get together." She said. "I've pretty much got it all done."

He gaped as she turned back around in her seat and resumed taking notes.

"But it's good that you've at least taken an interest in not failing this assignment." She said over her shoulder.

"What do you mean you're done?" He leaned forward and hissed.

"You know what that means Allen." She said quietly, trying not to let this escalate into an argument for the entire class to witness.

Unfortunately for her, the teacher began addressing the assignment, announcing they could have the rest of this class period (of about fifteen minutes) to finish up the small details. Though he reminded that they had more than enough time, exactly four weeks come Friday, to have finished the project and he expected nothing less.

As everyone moved to their groups or partners and the volume of chattering grew, Millerna was forced to slowly turn in her seat to face Allen.

"What do you mean you're done?" He repeated as she stared at him blankly.

Millerna sighed and started playing with her pen. "I'm done with this. The project, and with you." She stated.

He never thought the day would come when just a few words could stab him like a freaking katana. Allen stared at her with his brows together seriously.

"Done with me?" He questioned calmly. "What are you talking about?"

She shot him an annoyed look. "You know exactly what I mean. None of that... none of it was real." She announced to him, though keeping her voice in check.

"That's pretty funny coming from the one who initiated it." Allen said.

Millerna fumed. "I wasn't the one who originally started everything!" She tried to defend herself.

"Well, I wasn't the one who showed up at the other's house in the middle of the night looking for comfort!" He shot back, also mindful of his volume.

The blonde girl stilled at his words. "You're right about that. But now you won't have to worry anymore. Come on Allen, don't tell me you enjoyed working on our _project_?" She spoke with implication and grinned teasingly.

Allen couldn't bring himself to admit it. They never talked about the things they did. There weren't great discussions about how they both felt about everything.

It just happened, and there was never a guarantee it would happen again.

Besides, Allen was usually too busy trying to ignore how he may have felt. There had already been some close calls of admitting things out loud to someone. And because he was so full of pride, he wouldn't want to admit anything to her, of all people.

What was he thinking anyway? He should have been done with her after two weeks and moved on to someone new. He shouldn't have been holding his breath for their next chance encounter, waiting to feel her lips or hair or just get that close to her again.

Come on. Part of the reason he chose her as a partner was for the grade.

Suddenly he asked, "Is this an A project we've got?"

She looked surprised at the words. "Well, yeah, it should be."

"And you're sure everything is done?" He questioned further.

Her eyes shifting away from his secured an answer. "Well almost." Millerna admitted. "I just need to finish the poster and type up the written portion. It's all done after that."

"Fine. Then I'll come over tomorrow and we'll finish it." He said smugly.

Millerna winced and then shook her head. "We can't- You can't come over tomorrow. I'm busy."

Allen's confusion turned skeptical. Maybe she was just trying to avoid him. "With what?" He asked dryly.

"I've got a date." She said simply, though couldn't look him in the eye.

He grinned, sure it was a lie. "Oh really?" He said rhetorically.

"Yes, really." She looked to him with an irritated expression. "I don't know when I'll be home. But don't worry; I can finish it before Friday." She assured.

The grin faded. "A date? Really?" He said again, though this time it was a real question.

"Yeah." She said cheerfully.

"Fine." He replied. "It better be done before Friday." Was all he said.

There was nothing else said so Millerna turned back around in her seat to go over her notes with the remaining time. Allen turned to a friend nearby that also seemed to have finished the project with his group.

Because Allen was so full of pride, he couldn't even admit to himself that the feeling scratching just beneath the surface... was anger.

**xoxo**

"So, what are today's plans?" She questioned as they walked down the block.

He only turned to her and raised his eyebrows.

"Oh that's right!" She said, their joined hands swinging between them. "Studying! Can't wait."

Dilandau groaned. "Really? That's all?"

Celena did not respond.

"Don't I get like, a reward or something after all this?"

She pretended to think this over.

"Or, maybe I need incentive to actually get started?" He suggested again.

"Or maybe it'll take failing and getting left back a year and _then_ getting dumped for you to get in shape academically?"

Dilandau's eyes widened at the prediction. "Uh... I guess preventing that would be the best option."

Celena smiled kindly, masking any scenarios that he would have found displeasing.

They soon came upon the house and Dilandau pulled out his keys.

"Home already?" A voice questioned as soon as they stepped inside.

Both teens looked up in shock as an older woman was peering around the slightly open kitchen door. Dilandau wanted to kill himself. Celena was too surprised to do anything but make that same... _surprised _face.

"Hey, mom." He greeted while closing the front door. Celena glanced back.

There was no escape.

Luckily, the awkwardness was alleviated by the surprised look also present on the woman's face. Obviously, she hadn't been expecting company. In fact, she was just about to start pestering her son to clean the living room while she slaved away so they could eat that night and- and it was a good thing she didn't start that speech as soon as she'd heard the door open.

"Hi." She said, trying to inconspicuously move the spoon in her hand behind her back.

Dilandau face palmed when Celena wasn't looking.

"Hi, I'm Celena." She announced with a charming smile, having gathered her wits.

Dilandau's mother was still working on that. "I'm sorry, just one moment." She quickly ducked around and let the door swing close.

She tossed the spoon into the sink, tried to make out her reflection in the pots to fix her hair so it didn't look like a complete mess, and then proceeded to the living room.

"Hello, I'm Dilandau's mother." She said, extending a hand. "Honor. My name is, I mean."

By now the two had taken off their shoes and moved to the sofa, waiting for her.

Celena stood up and smiled, taking the offered hand. "I'm a friend of Dilandau's. I just came over so we could study."

To this, Honor stared past the girl and at her son, who was squirming in his seat and avoiding her eyes.

"Right. Well I'll be in the kitchen, finishing up on dinner. But I'll bring up something for you two to eat in a few." Honor released the girl's hand and smiled back.

"That's okay, you don't need to." Celena's grin widened and she glanced back at her boyfriend. "And we won't be going upstairs to study. There's plenty of space right out here." She motioned to the couch and coffee table.

Honor glanced down and her eyes nearly popped out of their sockets when she saw the magazine on top of the stack. Dilandau had also followed her gaze and jumped up.

"Why don't you go and help my mom bring out something to drink. I should clean up a bit." He ushered the two towards the kitchen door, making sure Celena didn't see the picture he had seen.

Just after Celena passed through the doorway, his mom glanced back and mouthed 'thanks' while he groaned with his head in his hands.

He literally had like two minutes to stick the magazine somewhere Celena wouldn't see so the only place he came up with was... his bookbag. Then he pretended to fluff some pillows as the two reentered the room.

Dilandau didn't taste the juice as he took a sip; he was too busy eyeing his mother in a 'you'd better behave' way while she shrugged helplessly.

She left quickly so they could start studying.

"Your mom's nice. I thought she was going to freak out that you didn't tell her I was coming over." Celena said while setting her glass on the table near the plate of granola bars and cookies they had brought out.

"Well I didn't know she was going to be home early." Dilandau grumbled.

"Okay, time to study then." She said, and went for her bookbag.

"Are you serious? We're really going to study? After the heart attack we all almost had?" He asked, turning to her in disbelief.

Celena placed the notebook in her lap and looked at him. "Remember that test I was supposed to have today? Well he pushed it back a day, which just means more time to study." She sighed. "Besides, what are we going to do if your mom's in the next room?" Then she winked. "And we're only _friends_."

To this, he jumped as he remembered something. "Right... sorry about that. You didn't need to lie for me. I mean, I haven't really told them about it but-"

"I didn't lie." She looked up from flipping to a specific page of her book, her words surprising him. "We _are_ friends. We've _been_ friends. But we aren't _just_ friends."

Dilandau stared a moment before his lips slowly pulled back into a smile. "Right."

She turned back to pull out a textbook as well. "And I didn't want to be the one to spring that surprise on her." Celena shot him a smirk. "It's all up to _you_."

Then he groaned. "You love to watch me squirm, don't you?"

"No. I just love to watch you."

The sweet smile didn't placate him.

**xoxo**

"So..." She said after he pushed open the door and they stepped inside. "Where is everyone?" She asked after looking around cautiously.

"Mom and Merle headed out to get something for dinner. Folken left for school yesterday." He responded as he took off his shoes.

"Oh." She said. "I'll miss him."

Van looked up. "Was that sarcasm?"

Hitomi was surprised. "No."

"So then you liked my brother?" He asked as they trekked into the living room and dropped their stuff on or near the coffee table.

Hitomi sat down and grabbed the remote. "Yeah, but I like someone else better."

Van grinned while heading to the kitchen. He came back a minute later with two cans of soda and a plate of poptarts.

"Best you've got?" Hitomi questioned from where she reclined on the sofa with her feet up on the table.

He shrugged. "Well I figured since you already like me there's no need to try and impress you anymore."

She moved her legs onto the rest of the couch so he wouldn't have room to sit down. "What was that?"

"I said, poptarts are universal. There isn't a person alive who dislikes them." He pushed her feet and sat down at the other end of the sofa.

Hitomi grabbed one and then proceeded to flip through channels. "Should we get started on homework or what?"

Van leaned back into the sofa and closed his eyes. "Or we could take a nap. It's been a long day."

"You barely do anything in school." She said back and placed her elbow on the armrest to then lean her head on her open palm.

"But I had to get up so early to do _nothing_." He complained, not moving an inch.

"Alright, then go ahead."

"What?" Van opened his eyes and turned to look at her.

Hitomi didn't pay him any mind while looking for something to watch. "Go take a nap. I'll be _right here _when you wake up." She said, and Van wasn't sure if she was being sarcastic or not.

He foolishly considered it for a moment before shaking his head. "Nah, that would just be rude. Almost as rude as kicking you out."

She turned to him slowly with a smile. "Are you afraid I'll burn down your house or something? _Or_ that I'll kill you in your sleep?"

He sat up straight and raised a brow. "And what would you tell my family? It was an accident?"

She finished the poptart and smirked. "They love me. They'll probably just adopt me and give me your room."

Van gasped dramatically. Hitomi turned back to the TV without batting an eye.

They spent the next half an hour finishing the remaining poptarts and soda. Van would fake yawn loudly every once in a while and Hitomi would roll her eyes at him. After the show they had been watching ended the girl got up and headed to the bathroom.

When Hitomi stepped out and back down the hallway to the living room she found it was empty. She looked around the room and then the kitchen, which was also empty.

The girl turned back to the hallway to find Van's door was closed and so she surmised he must've gone in there for something.

She opened the door abruptly and looked around in slight surprise to find…

Van lying on his bed with his eyes closed.

"Van, are you serious?" Hitomi asked while walking into the room. She stood near the bed and stared at him.

She thought he had actually fallen asleep. Until his lips twitched as he suppressed a wicked expression. She raised a brow to herself, because obviously he couldn't see.

Hitomi waited a moment before sighing. "I guess it wouldn't hurt for me to take a nap too."

And so she _carefully_ crawled onto the bed, pretending to try and hop over him to get to the free space on his other side. Van, however, had a bad reaction to this as he remembered an earlier encounter.

He jumped awake and shouted, "No more choking!"

Hitomi smiled smugly down at him. "That was pathetic."

Van blinked up at her. "You're the one who scarred me for life! Now anytime someone hovers over me in my own bed I'm gonna start screaming like a maniac."

Her smile slowly faded.

"Can never go to the doctor and have a normal checkup." He went on. "And the next time someone comes to wake me up I'll-"

"I could change that, I think." She said and pushed off to rest on her knees, his legs still between her own.

He stopped speaking when she interrupted him, propped up on his elbows in bed and looked at her questioningly. "You're gonna somehow erase the previous trauma you've caused me?" He raised a brow.

Hitomi rolled her eyes. "You've lived with Folken and Merle all your life. How could _I_ cause you trauma?"

Van pretended to give her a once over, indicating she wasn't as harmless as she looked.

"Oh shut up." She said offhandedly and placed a hand on his chest to push him down flat on the bed.

He smiled as she lowered herself again and closed his eyes first. Just before she touched base he whispered, "You really like this part, huh?"

Hitomi didn't respond to that comment. At least, not with words.

**xoxo**

'That is the third time in the past hour she's tried to sneak a peek at us.' He thought to himself, trying to pretend he hadn't seen. If he brought attention to it then Celena would start to take notice too.

"Is your mom okay?" His companion asked while writing something down.

Dilandau jumped. "What?"

"Does she think we're going to start making out on her couch?" Celena questioned impassively, still concentrating on her notes.

"Uh..." He said in shock, while thinking, 'There goes that plan.' He slapped a hand to his face and dragged it down. "My parents are like teenagers themselves sometimes."

She shrugged and looked up. "Mine are back in the honeymoon phase. I've gotten used to it."

"Easy for you, you were off at boarding school for a while and didn't have to see it _everyday_." He grumbled and brought a book to his lap to start reading again.

"What could be so bad about the _everyday_?" She laughed.

He cringed and didn't answer.

"I like her. She's cool." Celena said and went back to her homework. "Can't wait for you to tell her about us."

"She is cool." Dilandau agreed, but didn't say anything further when Celena looked up in surprise at his words.

They were silent for another ten minutes, both lost in their schoolwork. Until Celena had a choking fit and Dilandau jumped up to refill their glasses with something. She smiled gratefully through watered eyes.

As soon as the kitchen door swung closed behind him he saw his mother look up.

"So how's studying?" She questioned with a sly expression.

Dilandau rolled his eyes. "What are you, my age?" He proceeded to the refrigerator while wondering if it was a good thing no one had met his parents. They were cool, but sometimes a little weird. Maybe that's where he got it from. Maybe he wasn't a rebel!

The thoughts made him comically stop his actions, still holding onto a glass and the jug.

"So that's her, huh?" A voice interrupted his little freakout.

"What?" He went on to pour the juice.

"That's why you're not smoking anymore." She said, making him shake his head. "Why you aren't prowling around at all hours."

Dilandau rolled his eyes.

"Why you're suddenly _studying_." She went on with a teasing voice, stirring something on the stove.

He turned around with wide eyes. "Uh..."

"You've got a girlfriend." She said simply.

"What- I don't-" He stopped. "What makes you think that?"

She gave an 'are you serious?' look.

Dilandau filled the second glass and put back the jug. "Okay, so she is. Sorry I didn't mention it before." He turned around with a sheepish expression. "And sorry we dropped in; I didn't know you'd be home."

She raised a brow. "Oh really?"

He started and then said, "I mean, I was _hoping_ you'd be home. Because we don't really need to spend time alone in a big house that has... beds... and stuff."

His mother smirked and he sighed.

"Cut me some slack. I did you a favor earlier."

They both suddenly remembered the magazine. She laughed nervously. "Yeah, oops."

Dilandau turned and walked to the door but suddenly looked back to his mom. "So... what do you think about her?" He asked.

Honor shrugged. "She seems too good for you."

"Ha-ha." He fake laughed and reentered the living room. "Here, I hope you didn't choke again while I was..." He trailed off and stopped in his tracks, staring in horror.

"Dilandau, what's this doing in your bag?" Celena asked, holding up a magazine she was flipping through. "Sorry, I went in there looking for a pen. Mine ran out."

Said boy suddenly cursed under his breath. "Yeah, honor alright, but no _shame_."

He set down the glasses on the table and snatched it out of her hands. "It's my parent's."

Celena smirked. "So you didn't bring that to school to read during class?"

He wondered how that suggestion was even possible. Just the cover was-

"Of course not! I'm a not pervert!" He argued.

**xoxo**

It's not like he was sneaking into his own house. But it couldn't hurt to surprise everyone, even though they all should have been aware of his arrival.

So he quietly opened the lock, holding his keys tightly so they didn't clang around. He cautiously opened the door and slowly set his bags down.

Then he looked up to find the living room and kitchen empty. The TV was still on though so he assumed someone had to be home. Maybe the boys were in the basement?

It was eerily quiet and still, something his house wasn't used to. There was usually activity going on unless everyone was asleep. The television playing commercials was comforting as he headed to the kitchen for a glass of water.

After staring around the room for a moment he decided to unpack his bags and maybe get started on some laundry. He grabbed the bags and headed straight down the hallway towards his shared bedroom.

For some reason, his senses picked on something. He didn't necessarily _hear_ it, just felt something.

It was what made him stop at a certain door and glance at it curiously.

All the other doors, except the hall closet, were slightly ajar while this one was closed.

So, unthinkingly, he set down the bags and reached for the knob.

**xoxo**

**Chapter end. **Dun, dun, dun.

Well I have been doing really well when it comes to writing for the past two months. I love it. I'm basically wasting my summer inside writing and watching old TV shows and movies.

This chapter came out quickly but it's not as filling, I think. There wasn't a lot of Van/Hitomi or Celena/Dilandau. I think I took a long time just saying goodbye to those three characters in the beginning of the chapter.

Funny thing, in a conversation with **xStarletx **I said, "well maybe its just depressing to me, you have to say goodbye to some people. im all like, when will we see you again?1? but im the writer so I should know. XD".

There wasn't enough going on I think, and I hope the cliffhanger at the end annoys you a bit. That's always fun; gasping out loud and asking your computer, "why would she do that?"

Something I'd like you all to check out if you can is an AMV (anime music video) I finished in June-ish... can't really remember. It's uploaded on youtube and I'm really happy with how it turned out. Just have a look and maybe tell me what you think. Take out the parentheses and it should work.

Link: youtube(.)com/watch?v=M5ThUPFmFLY

**If you ever want to see what I'm up to then just check my profile, which I've been updating every few days lately. Or you can just send me a private message (PM) and I'll respond.**

Thanks for reading! Ciao.

7-20-10

9:09pm


	28. Chapter 28 Filler

8-12-10

2:08pm

**This chapter is brought to you by my train of thought that said, "THESE KIDS NEED TO PAY MORE ATTENTION TO SCHOOL. WHATS UP WITH THAT" (exactly how I wrote the note to myself).**

**xoxo**

**Title-Are you stalking me?**

**Chapter 28 (FILLER CHAPTER) - This chapter takes place before chapter 27, meaning those secondary characters haven't left us yet (it will be the Saturday from chapter 26).**

**By-Moon Prynces**

**xoxo**

When you've got a million and one other things going on then how can one possibly find the time to study for that big upcoming test?

And what are the "million and one other things" anyway?

It's easy to ask someone what they were doing instead of studying, but sometimes it's better to have a look for yourself.

**xoxo**

"What day is it?" Van asked while trudging into the kitchen, having just woken up on this lazy Saturday.

"You go to school every day, you should know." Folken commented from where he sat at the kitchen table.

He ignored his older brother and went for the poptarts lying around on the counter. "Thanks." Van muttered.

Folken grinned.

"For not eating _everything_." He continued with a smirk that couldn't be seen with his back turned.

Folken frowned as Merle skipped into the kitchen.

"Mom left to visit some friends." She announced to the only uninformed person.

"And she left a list of things to get done." Folken said, holding up a small note paper.

Van groaned through a mouthful of crumbs.

The three gathered around to look at it but Folken stood up and prevented them from seeing anything.

"Okay, so there's cleaning the living room, the kitchen, the basement and... the bathroom." He read off.

The two boys shuddered.

"The bathroom? Oh no, that's not happening." Van protested after choking down his remaining breakfast. "How about... I do living room and kitchen and _you_," He looked pointedly at Folken. "Do the basement because your room is already down there anyway and _Merle_ can do the bathroom."

Merle rolled her eyes as the two nodded. "How can you be so scared of the one place where you two spend the most time?"

"What?" Van frowned.

"I do not." Folken said, folding his arms.

"Please, you primp more than I do." She raised her brows knowingly.

They didn't deflect the statement, for fear of the war it would start but Van still mumbled, "Liar" under his breath.

Merle snatched the paper from Folken and looked it over again. "Wait... why is the bottom ripped?"

Folken winced, arms loosening.

She looked up at her eldest brother. "What did you do?" She asked.

Van realized something and his eyes widened. He didn't even need to read the paper to know what it said. He shook his head, staring in horror and mouthing the word 'no'.

Folken pulled out the bottom of the paper from his pocket and handed it over.

Merle gasped as she read it.

"_Laundry._" She whispered ominously.

**xoxo**

He looked up as the front door opened with the sound of loud laughter.

Someone said 'Shh' very obviously and then the two giggled.

Allen got up from the kitchen table and walked over to see his parents making out against the front door. It wasn't even closed yet!

"Oh my god!" He screeched, causing them to peel apart.

"Hey sweetie." His mother said with a dizzy smile.

"Close the door before you do that stuff!" Allen said before pushing them away to do the deed himself.

He sighed in relief. It was still daylight out for cripe's sake! What if the neighbors saw...

Then he turned around and almost let out a girlish scream that the neighbors would probably _hear_.

His parents were once again stuck to each other except now they were on the sofa.

The living room sofa! The sofa where him and Celena and _company_ would sit!

"Stop! Get up! That's not the place for- for-" Allen shuddered through his protests. "GET UP!"

His father pulled away from his mother and they looked at him unsteadily.

"What's up?" His dad asked.

Allen fixed the two with a stern glare. "You are not having sex all over the damn house, that's what."

"Aww. Come on." His mother whined like a child. "Why not!" She still lay on her back, looking at him.

"Are you kidding?" Allen asked in disbelief. "How drunk are you two? It's like noon!"

They both giggled stupidly at him. "Well actually... we started early." His mother admitted. It was amazing that she never slurred.

And he was guessing that his father didn't have as much as she did because he could stand up straight... for the most part.

"Look, as long as you have kids living in this house then the only place you can have sex is your bedroom!" He said seriously.

The two finally sat up on the couch and looked at him with frowns.

"Damn." One of them muttered. Then he tried to reason with his son. "Look Allen, I'll tell you something. One day will come along and then you'll find that person that's so special... that you won't be able to wait until you get to the bedroom to have sex! It'll just happen!"

Allen's eyes bugged out at the lecture he was getting. Seriously? His eyes rolled skyward for help. He could not wait for his parents to get out of this 'rekindled romance' phase. Him and Celena weren't even out of the house yet!

"Wait till Celena gets home!" He said instead.

They both groaned.

"Now... go upstairs, and... do whatever you want. I'm gonna be... outside." Allen said, though they weren't paying attention as they already made it to the stairs.

He sighed after a few minutes.

Until he heard a bang and then a shocked voice scream overdramatically.

**xoxo**

"I want ice cream." She stated.

Dilandau rolled his eyes. "Okay, then I hope you have money." He grinned when she gasped and turned to look at him.

But he didn't turn to look at her as they kept walking, hands joined between them.

There was a moment of silence.

"I'm hungry now too." Dilandau grumbled.

Celena's response was a wide smile before dragging him to the nearest place to eat. "You know I feel like I'm forgetting something." She said to herself.

"What a shock." He rolled his eyes jokingly, causing her to let him walk into the glass door.

"Oops." Celena said with an innocent smile and shrug as Dilandau rubbed his nose. They proceeded inside and got seated. "Seriously, what is it..." She said, looking down in thought.

"Look who it is!" A voice spoke up happily.

The two looked up quickly to find an older man standing by their table and smiling.

Dilandau glanced at his girlfriend uneasily. "Hey... what're you _doing_ here?" He asked with a meaningful look.

"I'm meeting someone." He spoke bashfully.

"Aren't you..." Celena said uncertainly, trying to place him.

"The principal." Dilandau sighed as Celena choked on the sip of water she tried to take. "Mr. Wanaki."

"That's okay, we aren't in school right now. Why don't you call me Roy?"

Dilandau gagged when no one was looking. "Wait. Your first name is Roy?"

The principal smiled. "Nope."

The two sitting down had to hide their disappointed looks when he didn't move.

"Hey." Another voice piped in, revealing a woman in an amazing sundress. Celena stared in awe.

"Here she is. This is my wife." _Roy_ introduced with a grin. "We were just about to have lunch. Sweetie, these are actually two of my students." He said proudly.

"Want to... join us?" Celena suddenly asked. When Dilandau turned to her with a horrified look (that Roy and his wife had yet to notice) she could only shrug and make a helpless face suggesting that she wasn't thinking.

"No that's okay, really we-" His wife started. She paused. "I guess it would be better. More the merrier, right?"

Dilandau had to bite the inside of his cheek to keep from groaning. He wasn't going to kiss Celena and be all- all couple-y with other people around!

"I'm Pat." She said, finally introducing herself.

Mr. Wanaki had gotten the attention of a waiter and brought up the new arrangements. Within two minutes Pat and him were sitting with Celena and Dilandau.

"So, did you two already start studying for that test coming up?" Mr. Wanaki commented lightly as everyone was glancing at their menu's.

"Oh sh-"

Three people looked up at Celena's embarrassed face.

"I remember now." She said quietly to Dilandau. He wanted to face-palm.

**xoxo**

She thought she had never been so excited to get home and crack open a book. After finalizing her decision with Dryden, Millerna was feeling positive and productive. It only made sense she'd want to continue in the same vain and get as much done as possible.

But when she stepped back into the house she was ambushed and surrounded.

"Hey!" Marlene said, just coming down the stairs as Millerna closed the front door. "Don't take off your shoes!"

Eries then appeared on the left, having gotten up from the living room sofa. She grinned at the surprised look on her younger sister's face.

"What's going on?" Millerna asked carefully.

"We're going out!" Marlene announced, stopping at the last step. That's when Millerna noticed the handbag she had.

"Wait, I can't-"

"Of course you can! We'll be leaving soon and-" Eries started with raised brows.

"-have to study!" Millerna was still saying.

"Psh." They turned to Marlene, who had made the offending sound. "We won't be here forever!"

"But your books sure will." Eries cut in.

"But there's this big t-"

"You can do it later when we get home!" Marlene said with a smile, easily deflecting any arguments made. "And don't worry about money, I'm paying for everything!"

Eries slapped a hand over Millerna's mouth. "See! We have to go now! She's totally tempting us!"

Millerna made some response that was muffled by the hand on her face.

"Oh." And then it was removed.

"Everything?" Millerna questioned with a smirk she tried to hide.

"This'll be good." Eries muttered with her arms crossed and a grin on her face.

Marlene nodded enthusiastically.

**xoxo**

Okay. This was it.

There was a set objective. It was all laid out on the desk. And she was sure that if she could just get started, read at least three words in the span of a few seconds it would get her on the right track and it wouldn't be so painful to get through.

Hitomi stared blankly at the books and pens in front of her.

"Why is studying so hard?" She groaned and leaned her head back on the chair.

After a few minutes of silence, with no work getting done, she sat up straight again. She leaned over the textbook directly in front of her and tried to concentrate on the words on the page.

"The men turned away-" She read out loud, and then stopped abruptly to collapse onto the book. "Four words never seemed so long."

Hitomi glanced up at the random pieces of paper lying at the corners of the desk. She sat up and noticed there were also some papers on the floor.

Then she turned around to see the clothes near her closet, unkempt. And her eyes also saw the random objects and books and _stuff_ around and on her bed.

It was then that Hitomi realized she hadn't cleaned up her room all week. But this was normal anyway.

Normally she tidied her room up and felt all good about having put everything in it's _place_. Then the next day would pass and maybe she went through a few pieces of clothing before deciding on something to wear and didn't get around to putting the rejected back in the closet or drawers properly. And okay the next day she would empty everything from her bookbag to make sure she didn't forget any homework assignments, and she left some papers on the floor or desk because they were unnecessary. And maybe later in the week she spent a whole three hours just sitting around on her bed, listening to music or reading a book or fiddling with something that she had accidentally broken earlier.

Which meant that soon her room looked... well, the way it did just then.

It was at that moment Hitomi decided that maybe she could work her way up to the studying.

Just that... all the clutter and stuff was ruining her concentration and distracting her. So maybe she could start small with putting things away and cleaning up a bit and soon she'd be finished with all the studying and everything would be done and she could go to sleep peacefully and look forward to a free Sunday!

"Perfect." Hitomi said to herself happily as she hopped up and looked around the room with a smile. "Now where to start..."

And she looked around the room again.

And again.

"Uh..."

Well she could start with the closet and make her way counter clockwise and- But maybe starting at the bed where there was a collection of various things around it on the floor and end tables, including clothes... Should she just grab the trash bin next to her desk and start getting rid of whatever needed to go?

She put a hand to her chin in thought.

...

Then the phone rang.

"I'll get it!" Hitomi shouted as she bolted for the hallway.

**xoxo**

"It isn't that hard." Merle said as the other two stared down.

"Okay, then you start." Van replied immediately. Folken nodded.

"Um, okay." She said, trying to feign confidence.

The girl picked up a white t-shirt and put it in one of the small baskets nearby. Then she grabbed the nearest article, a pair of black pants, and put it in another basket. Separating the whites and darks was easy.

"See. Simple."

Van and Folken looked to each other and shrugged.

"Alright." The eldest said, and joined his sister.

Within a minute all three siblings were tossing white clothes into the aforementioned basket while the black and navy blues went into the other.

"What about this?" And Van held up a pink robe, Merle's.

"Um..." She said nervously.

"Or these." Folken asked, pointing to a yellow shirt and a green one.

"I-" She started again.

"Should yellows go with white?" Van asked, looking at his older brother.

"Why? They're _yellow_." Folken responded.

"Wait, just-" Merle was still being ignored.

Van grumbled. "They're close enough. What, you think yellow is going to bleed onto the whites?"

But at the mere thought they both winced.

"But it wouldn't go with green, right?" Folken asked unsurely. Van just shrugged, looking at the robe in his hands.

"Stop!" Merle said, louder this time. "Give me that!" And she snatched her robe from Van and her shirts from Folken's reach. "Look, just put the whites in and I'll figure out the rest. I mean obviously reds bleed color and..."

She was once again tuned out as the brothers started grabbing the whites and throwing them into the washer. Van closed the lid and turned around.

"Okay, now what?" He asked.

Folken's response was to glance back at Merle.

Van rolled his eyes. "Folken don't you do any laundry yourself? You're at school months at a time."

He shrugged. "I trade favors and stuff. Someone else is usually doing it for me so they don't fail a test or paper."

"You help people cheat?" Van asked, eyes going wide.

"No, I help them study and not write crappy papers." Folken said.

"Detergent!" The third voice spoke up suddenly.

The boys looked over to see her holding up a bottle and looking proud.

**xoxo**

"Two."

"Three."

"Two!"

"Three!"

"Why are you insisting on three? You won't even use them all!" Millerna accused.

"Yes I will." Eries shot back. "You're the one who won't use them. You should be getting one!"

Marlene walked over to the two, though not quite paying attention as she spotted an interesting (distracting) display. "What are you talking about?" She barely managed to get the words out as her senses weren't all there.

"I need this new shampoo, conditioner and hairspray set!" Eries said quickly, moving over to her elder sister's side. She held the three bottles in her hands with an expectant smile.

"She does not _need_ it." Millerna argued, walking closer as well. "And I was thinking about getting this shower gel and lotion set."

Marlene turned to look at her sisters with a blank look. She blinked a few times and tried to retain the information they were spewing in an effort to get into the conversation. "Um, okay. So two what?"

"Well..." Millerna turned away, looking bashful. Eries rolled her eyes at the elaborate show. "I was thinking I would get another set as a gift for a friend of mine."

"Liar." Eries muttered. "You don't have friends." She stuck out a tongue at the look she received.

"I do too! Her name is Hitomi!" Millerna was shrieking indignantly.

"People are staring!" Marlene hissed, gripping the handles of their shopping cart. Neither sister listened and were still glaring at each other. Finally, Marlene sighed. "Okay, just put it in here already."

The bickering pair immediately smiled and placed their items into the shopping cart.

"Oh yea, so Marlene did you want that jacket?" Millerna asked, glancing at the mannequin that had captured her sister's attention.

"I shouldn't... It doesn't even look that great..."

Eries shrugged, looking at her nails. "You could just _try it on_."

"Okay!" And the eldest blonde bounced over to where she would pick out her size.

Millerna looked to Eries, who stared back. "Famous last words."

She just shrugged again. Though there was a slight smirk.

**xoxo**

He tried not to let the panic he felt show through. Otherwise there would be questions and he would get all uncomfortable and then they would figure out he had forgotten all about that damn test!

How could he forget! The entire school was supposed to be taking it to gauge something about the district and teacher's performance and student's potential and all this stressful crap and- and it was no wonder he had pushed it to the deepest corner of his mind and forgotten!

He was supposed to be studying (or at least _know_) two school years worth of material! (Because he was a sophomore.)

Celena was watching him carefully across the table, though looking uncomfortable herself.

"Well, I'm guessing since you two are eating out you must be prepared for this test." Pat said happily while ripping apart the slice of bread she had taken.

Mr. Wanaki just smiled knowingly.

It was at this look Dilandau wanted to know _what_ he _knew_.

Paranoid, yes he was.

But Mr. Wanaki didn't say anything or make some joke about Dilly's track record. Maybe he didn't want to embarrass the poor boy in front of his girlfriend or something.

The uneasy silence that followed Pat's assumption was ignored as the waiter came by to take their orders.

"The pasta." Celena said shakily.

"Which one?" The girl asked with the obligatory smile.

"I don't know! Surprise me!" Celena shot back.

The girl jumped at the unexpected behavior and went on to Pat. Celena shrugged with a worried look at Dilandau, who could only assume she was going insane. She probably wanted to head home and get on with studying as soon as possible.

Mr. Wanaki and his wife ordered some dish for two and Dilandau carelessly asked for some sandwich that looked the least messy.

"So why are _you_ two eating out?" Dilandau asked, turning to the older man sitting next to him.

Mr. Wanaki (_Roy_ would never work out for him) raised him brows, as if he didn't quite expect this question. "Well... it's Saturday." He began slowly, trying to come up with something. "And you know how it..."

"I suggested it!" Pat interrupted cheerfully. "It was either this or sitting around with take out while watching TV."

There was some look exchanged between the adults and Celena became suspicious.

"Oh." Said girl spoke up. "So then you're not worried about the tes-"

Pat jerkily moved a hand to grab her water and knocked over the glass, causing everyone to jump.

_Roy_ shot _Pat_ a grateful smile as Celena narrowed her eyes slightly.

Dilandau rolled his eyes away from the scene as they tried to do damage control to the table and someone was alerted of the mishap.

Great. Not only was he going to fail that test (or at least display some deep level of ineptitude) but his girlfriend would probably kill herself studying for it and die of sleep deprivation (or shame at having such an idiot boyfriend) and the principal would always look back at this day thinking, 'why didn't they just go home and study? sob-sob'.

All this worrying was making him hungry anyway so Dilandau decided he could stick it out.

**xoxo**

They weren't the brightest bulbs when drunk, was all Allen could think as he stomped back down the stairs.

Apparently his father had been trying to show off his dance moves to the imaginary music in the air and had swiped some picture frames on the wall, causing them to crash to the floor.

Allen had found the mess, sent them to their room (and this time watched carefully as they shut the door) before cleaning it up.

Now he was wondering what to eat, seeing as he had missed lunch.

He opened the refrigerator to find it didn't have anything appealing. Even the leftovers didn't look so great.

Nothing in the cabinets. No peanut butter. No bread.

Allen slumped into the kitchen chair and sighed. He was getting too tired to even look for food now.

"Might as well order pizza or something." He said to himself thoughtfully.

Yes. A large pineapple pizza would definitely hit the spot right about then. It only took five minutes to call and it was all taken care of.

As long as his parents were sober by the time the delivery guy came over. And he had enough money to-

At this point Allen was jogging up to his room to look for money.

His wallet? Two dollars.

"What the-" He started to shout, but dropped the sentence lest it alert his parents and they popped back out of that room.

And so the search went on, even in his tired and not-quite malnourished state.

Under the bed? In desk drawers? End table?

After searching frantically around his room he only came up with change. Seventy-three cents to be exact.

"Pizza's gonna be here any freaking minute." He was mumbling to himself while still pushing his hand in the pockets of all his clothes. "What am I gonna do? Send him back? Ask him to put it on my tab?"

Allen paused, wondering if that was an option. Then he imagined the pizza guy getting back into the car with him staring on brokenly.

Okay so no, that was not really an option.

"Celena!" He shrieked suddenly, then clapped a hand over his mouth while walking out of his room and into his sister's. "Money, money, money." He kept chanting while looking over the room critically. "If I were Celena," Allen said to himself, lifting open a few small jewelry boxes on the dresser carefully. "Where would I put it..."

He stopped and turned around, standing in the middle of the room.

"I would keep it with me, obviously." Allen rolled his eyes at himself. "She can't have anything saved up, right? I mean she's going out all the time with Dilandau." He paused. "Does Dilandau pay when they go out? Where would he get all the money?" Allen's eyes widened in thought. "Girls are way too expensive."

He shook his head and tried to get back on track. The pizza would probably arrive in another five minutes, considering all the time he had just wasted.

Allen moved to pull open the top two dresser drawers where random objects and hair utensils were stored. He navigated a hand through a drawer that contained various types of eyeliner (he shuddered as he imagined Celena poking her eye with it), old key chains, a few ticket stubs from movies, hairbrushes, nail polish, hair bands, a few CD's, and ah! There is was! A five dollar bill!

He pulled out the hand triumphantly and shoved the bill into his pocket (and mentally added it to the two seventy-three he currently had in there).

But it still wasn't enough. He needed about five more dollars, because pizza wasn't exactly cheap these days, and the drawers didn't seem to hold any more hope so he shut them.

Another three minutes and Celena's room was looking bleak. And he was feeling lucky the pizza was taking longer than it should have. (If he had been ready with the money he would probably be downstairs complaining about it though.)

Allen gave up on the second floor and headed downstairs to try and find change in the kitchen drawer or on the coffee table, or even in everyone's jackets in the hall closet.

But then as he descended the stairs he glanced over to the couch and saw something.

His mother's bag.

Jackpot.

He grinned to himself while walking closer, but then frowned just as quickly.

"I'm an idiot. This was here the whole time." Allen spoke to the empty room.

**xoxo**

To be quite honest, this wasn't where she thought she'd be at that moment. But then again, if she had actually been _thinking_ she wouldn't be there.

"What if they don't make it?" Someone nearby asked her.

Her eyes didn't move away from the scene. "Of course they'll make it."

They lapsed into silence, watching in fascination and anticipation. She was waiting to say 'I told you'.

Hitomi and her brother leaned closer to the TV as the climax approached. They were caught up in watching some old drama show involving a car, some secret organization and solving priority 'cases'.

But instead of an ending, the two received a cliffhanger that had them complaining loudly.

"What's on now?" Mamoru asked, neither of them moving their eyes away.

Hitomi ignored him while flipping channels in search for something new to watch.

"Wait! Go back!" He demanded.

"What?" And she did, only to find some disgusting show about odd world records. "That's not entertainment."

"Hey!" Mamoru responded as she went back to her search. "Go back!" He repeated.

"No. We are _not_ watching that." Hitomi said, not glancing away from the television.

Which she really should have done because at least she would have been prepared for her brother launching an attack to get the remote control out of her grasp so he could go back to the channel with disgusting records.

"What- Let go!" She shouted through the struggle.

"Don't you have homework to do!" Mamoru said back, pulling the remote with both hands.

"Don't you?" Hitomi reflected, tugging the object towards herself with one hand while trying to push him away with the other.

The struggle turned a bit noisy and their mother stood at the kitchen doorway a moment after discovering them.

"Okay, okay, enough of that." She said, walking around to stand in front of the sofa.

The siblings calmed down though both still had a claim on the remote. Mother Bear snatched it swiftly out of their hands anyway.

"Neither of you has time to watch anymore TV anyway. You," She pointed to Mamoru. "Have a school project to work on. We'll be lucky if you get it done by Monday."

Mamoru groaned but got up and left.

Hitomi winced as she remembered her own school related things...

So she headed back up to her room (with her mom watching with raised brows) and started throwing away anything within sight that was of no use.

Then she started refolding some shirts and tucking them back into her dresser drawers and hanging up others in the closet.

"That wasn't so bad." She mumbled to herself, thinking that if she hadn't procrastinated at all she would _never_ have gotten anything done.

**xoxo**

"I need to vacuum."

"_I_ need to vacuum. _You_ need to do the dishes!"

Van groaned. "I thought we agreed on our jobs already. I thought you had already gotten comfortable cleaning the bathroom!"

Merle shot him a look with her hands on her hips. "I was cleaning up _my_ room. And I never actually agreed to clean the bathroom!"

"Why do you need the vacuum?"

"To vacuum my room!" Merle yelled, getting frustrated. "Where is it anyway?"

"What's going on?" A third voice asked as Folken popped up from the basement stairs with a questioning gaze.

Merle's eyes narrowed. "Where is the vacuum?"

"I dunno." Folken responded. And it was casual enough to make the other two believe it, except that he turned away to make an abrupt exit.

The small girl growled and started forward quickly. But she was suddenly pushed aside as her other brother moved to skip down the stairs in pursuit of the same prize.

"Hey!" She shouted.

They both reached the bottom and looked around the basement in amazement.

"Wow." Van started as Folken tried to discreetly stand in front of the appliance they were fighting over. "You're an idiot. I could've done a better job!" Merle nodded with raised brows.

One half of the basement, containing the washer, dryer, a table on which to fold laundry and an old sofa and TV was looking pretty tidy.

Except when you glanced at the other half, which was considered Folken's "room". Because in their observation it seemed as if all their eldest sibling had done was shove all the clutter to his side, pending cleanup.

Merle's eyes lit up and a finger pointed. "There it is!" She said, and then regretted it. "I saw it first!" And she jumped over things in her jog to the object that Folken could no longer hide.

"Wait! I'll use it really quick!" Van argued.

"Just sweep the kitchen while I use it first!" Merle said as six hands latched onto the thing.

"Hey, it's already down here so I might as well use it first and then pass it on." Folken suggested, trying to sound civil.

"Fine." Merle conceded, because it actually made sense.

But Van was still adamant.

"Folken uses it first and I'll clean the bathroom." She said.

Van let go and stood up straight. "Kay."

"This entire place better be clean when Mom gets home." Merle threatened Folken, who was trying to untangle the wire so he could plug it in.

A thought occurred to Van. "Did anyone check the laundry?"

There was a pause (even Folken looked up).

"Oh shit." Merle said loudly in her surprise as she stomped over to the washer and dryer. "I hope nothing shrunk."

Van and Folken winced.

"Uh... whose shirt is this?" She turned around and held up a white one.

Eyes widened. Someone flinched. And then Folken tripped over the wire as he tried to reach for his clothes with regret.

"I'm almost done with the kitchen." Van said and turned to leave.

Merle didn't speak as she turned back to the dryer and emptied it's contents onto the table.

Folken set his mouth in a straight line and let his childish anger guide him into properly cleaning.

**xoxo**

Somehow this was taking longer than any of them thought it should.

First, it was the food. Were they growing the carrots and wheat and chicken right in the kitchen or what?

Then... it might have been the slightly stilted conversation throughout the meal. No one went back to the topic of the test, or even school for that matter. They managed discussing movies and other food establishments easily.

Dilandau even rolled his eyes when Celena made an admiring remark about the dress Pat had on.

'Girls.' He thought to himself. Then he glanced over to Mr. Wanaki who looked a little uneasy and hadn't eaten as much as his wife.

"What's up with you?" He asked carelessly before remembering this was his _principal_ (no matter how cool of a guy he was). "Uh..." Dilandau looked up and caught Celena's eyes, shrugging the same way she had earlier.

Mr. Wanaki fell back to reality so fast he felt a little dizzy. "Nothing." He replied lightly. "Just wondering if your folder is going to get any bigger this year. Seems like you're slacking." And he gave a pointed look.

"What folder?" Celena asked.

Dilandau narrowed his eyes at the older man, sending a very specific message.

The principal just grinned as his wife chose to remain quiet and took another bite of her meal.

"Don't worry, I already quit smoking." Dilandau tried to say without gritting his teeth in an annoyed fashion.

Mr. Wanaki's brows went up, impressed.

"That was all my doing." Celena piped in.

He bit back a smile to go along with the brows.

"_Actually_," Dilandau began. "It was _my_ doing seeing as _I_ was the one with the bad habit." He corrected. "And anyway it's not like I was going through a pack a day or something. I wasn't actually addicted to the stuff."

Celena rolled her eyes when he wasn't looking and mouthed to Mr. Wanaki, "It was all me."

Pat seemed a little surprised that he smoked at all, even if it was behind him. "How do you-" She was just about to question how he even got a hold of the stuff but thought better of it.

"So what was that folder again?" Celena asked sweetly, causing Dilly to groan. She didn't miss a thing, did she?

Mr. Wanaki grinned and went against Dilandau's wishes. "Just a collection of Mr. Albatou's misdeeds."

Celena looked to her boyfriend with a devious expression. "What? Dilandau's a good boy!" She fake gasped. "Any way I could get a peek at that?"

The principal fake sighed. "Unfortunately that's not appropriate."

Dilandau was pouting like a kid and not saying much else. Pat smiled amusedly at him.

The girl waiting their table came by again. "How is everything? Did you want to move on to dessert?"

"No!" Dilandau said quickly. He shot a look at his girlfriend. "We should probably get back home and keep _studying_."

Celena's face fell at the reminder that her future was on the line. "Yeah." She agreed unenthusiastically while wondering if she could catch some life threatening disease by Monday.

Mr. Wanaki also looked downtrodden at the mention of something school related. Only his wife caught it though. She shook her head exasperatedly.

**xoxo**

"I saw it first."

"It fits me better."

"You didn't even try it on!"

"I don't need to!"

Marlene sighed, holding onto bags of the already purchased items. She was wondering if she could sneak out to the car, drop off the bags and be back in time to scold her sisters.

"Why don't you both get it?" She suggested.

Eries and Millerna glanced up, both holding onto the black sweater.

"It's the only one left in this size." Millerna muttered.

"How much is it?" Marlene questioned, craning her neck for a better look.

The two younger siblings both tried to snatch at the tag. The eldest sighed again.

"Why did I think this would be a good idea? You two are acting worse than Chid." She commented.

Millerna looked up and blinked. Her hand opened and the sweater fell from her grasp. "I don't want it anymore."

Eries stared down at it blankly a moment before smirking. "That's right. Dryden probably wouldn't like it anyway."

The youngest rolled her eyes. "Whatever."

Marlene 'ooh'ed for no reason as Millerna left them.

"At least _I_ don't have boney knees!" Millerna shot over her shoulder while looking at a rack of skirts.

Eries glared. "I do not have boney knees!"

"Here we go again." Marlene rolled her eyes away from the scene.

After another hour and a handful of clothes (for each of the three sisters) they headed to the counter up front to pay for everything. Well, Marlene would pay.

"Okay, no more cash on me so... here we go." Marlene said to herself while digging into her bag for her wallet as her sisters and the girl at the register watched. She handed over a card and smiled happily.

The girl looked at the card, turned it over and then sighed in annoyance. Millerna shot a look at her that no one saw.

"I need to see ID." She proclaimed.

Marlene happily reopened her wallet and pulled out her license.

The girl looked between the two cards once, then twice, then a third time.

"I'm sorry this card isn't going to work." The girl said and then reached for the phone that sat next to the register. "And I'll need to call security."

"What? What for?" Marlene asked in concern.

"The name on this card doesn't match your ID, I'm going to have to assume it's stolen."

"Oh for-" Millerna finally said and snatched the cards right from the girl's hands, leaving her momentarily shocked. She looked between the two cards carefully before glancing up. "Marlene, you have Duke's card."

Marlene giggled nervously. "Then I guess he has mine..." She turned to the girl. "My husband."

"The last name is the same, geez." Millerna said, trying to subtly call the girl on her incompetence.

Eries sighed. "Does this mean we can't get anything?"

The girl hung up the phone and waited for a decision to be made.

"No, I have another." And Marlene pulled out one more card. "But if this doesn't work we're screwed..."

**xoxo**

By this point Hitomi was thinking she could just push studying onto Sunday altogether. Seriously, it was a pretty general test anyway and it's not like she would _fail_.

Hitomi paused and sat up (as she had been rolling around on her bed restlessly).

Her room was looking nice and clean and there wasn't much out of place, except for the books on the desk and a few random objects on her end table.

But after her victory she had absently rewarded herself with picking up a novel she was halfway through and started reading it. For the next half an hour.

And when she realized this after looking up (and breaking whatever spell the novel had on her), Hitomi knew what she should do.

"Aghh." She groaned, glancing from the book lying innocently (beseechingly) on her pillow to the book waiting (ominously) on her desk. "Maybe just another thirty minutes." She said quietly, a hand reaching slowly to the book.

A sound cracked through the still air and startled her, causing her to pull back the hand immediately as if she were just caught.

Hitomi glanced around to find a pen had just rolled off the desk and landed right onto another textbook on the floor next to the desk. She sighed before getting up from the bed.

"Right, right. Study time. For real." And sat down at the desk.

She glanced up at the computer screen at another end of the spacious enough work space. After a moment's hesitation she pulled out the drawer with the keyboard and started typing.

Hitomi gave up waiting after a few minutes, which was just the amount of time needed for her to get a response.

"Wait, what?" She asked the computer, typing something back quickly. "Van, you didn't know about the test?" Hitomi asked incredulously, as if he were standing right in front of her.

**xoxo**

She threw open the door and let it hit the wall. He looked up, feeling like a criminal for being caught red-handed.

"What are you doing?" Celena screeched at him.

Allen went ahead and took another bite of the slice he had been holding up to his mouth when she entered.

She walked in, shut the door and started pacing. "Where is my bookbag? I need to study at least a little. I mean what if they teach at completely different levels in boarding school and by your high school's standards I'm behind or something?" She rambled.

He finished chewing, swallowed and looked at her in confusion. "What are you talking about?" Allen glanced at the stairs. "And maybe you want to tone it down a bit. I think they're finally asleep."

Celena turned to the stairs with a look of her own.

**xoxo**

"I don't know why you're worrying so much about it." She said, walking to the kitchen as he sat down on the living room couch.

"Neither do I." He said tiredly.

"There's nothing you can do for them." She responded, walking back into the room again.

"I know." He sighed.

"And it doesn't matter if they study or not. It's just a test to see how well they can demonstrate knowledge of their high school education thus far." She said, trying to get off the bracelet on her wrist.

"Yes, but- ...what?"

She smiled at him fondly while walking around the sofa to sit next to him. "Let's just watch a movie." And she picked up the TV remote to find something.

Mr. Wanaki smiled to himself and shook his head.

**xoxo**

**This chapter** was written as a "filler chapter" the way mangas have sidestory chapters. I write notes for stories sometimes, especially multi-chaptered stories. Sometime a few months ago I wrote that note that's up at the beginning and last month decided to make this "filler chapter". It actually came out much longer than I was hoping; it really just kind of... _jumped_ out of my hands and did it's own thing.

Also this chapter was meant to be written in a choppy sort of way so that you don't get a whole lot from each scene before it shifts quickly to another scene. Hopefully there was enough humor to keep you interested though. If not, I'm sorry this wasn't exactly my best lately.

One last thing I have to say is that seriously, I do not know what will be happening for me in the next year. I understand being impatient for more chapters/stories but the only way I have of informing you of anything is by updating my profile. I won't tack on "Author's Notes" as whole chapters here. I do realize I haven't been updating my profile as frequently as I had during the summer but if you ever question what's going on with me and my writing then check there first. And then I suppose you can berate me through a message (which is totally acceptable, it's nice to hear from people).

Hopefully I'll have a real chapter that's back to being a little more plot driven out soon, but I can't make any promises. It's not summertime anymore...

Thanks to **karmy 014**, who sent me a message expressing her impatience and anticipation for a new chapter. Also thank you **Levita**, whose review was amazing. Seriously? Who in the world could stand trying to read this story for seven years? I've been... not too great at updating frequently...

Anyway, thanks to everyone who reads this story and everyone who happens to review! Amazing that there are 300 reviews for this story. I guess the characters kinda grow on you, huh? =]

9-30-10

8:59pm


	29. Chapter 29

10-27-10

8:14pm

**xoxo**

**Title-Are you stalking me?**

**Chapter 29**

**By-Moon Prynces**

**xoxo**

"Dad!"

Van looked up at the girlish scream and left his room.

In the kitchen it was obvious that his mom and sister were home from grocery shopping but also, so was his father.

Hitomi had left half an hour earlier and Van wasn't sure yet if that was a good thing. He hadn't had any real girlfriends to introduce to his family before. And the thing about Hitomi was... most of his family already met her when they were just friends (or something like that).

"Honey, when did you get back?" Varie asked, fluttering around her husband happily.

Goau shrugged. "Not that long."

Then she looked to her son. "Van, you were home the entire time? You didn't even notice?" She frowned disapprovingly and raised her brows.

Merle was ignoring anyone but her father and asking him about the places he had been.

"Sorry." Van shrugged nonchalantly, hiding how excited he actually was to have his dad back home.

It didn't matter though; Goau smiled and engulfed him and Merle in a big hug anyway. Varie watched on while trying to explain Folken's absence.

"I'm home!" He sang loudly, as if they weren't already aware.

Through his smile Van wondered if the ominous undertone was his paranoia.

**xoxo**

He wasn't one of those "uncool" parents that did things to embarrass his kids. He and his wife raised them, and in some ways the kids raised him as well. They all learned from each other, no matter what age or role they had.

It was just one of those things you thought about while sitting around in the quiet for a few moments. The kind of thought that comes with such deep introspection but is broken as soon as someone walks in the room and says, "Hey."

Goau looked up from where he sat at the arm chair in the living room that no one ever actually occupied except him. It was his own little space.

Varie smiled as the television glowed in the background, the volume low enough to barely be heard. All the other lights in the room were off, and she had just finished cleaning up around the kitchen which was _her_ own little space.

"What are you thinking about?" She asked, walking over to sit on his lap sideways.

It was getting late. They had already had dinner and he had gotten a call from Folken earlier as well. Merle and Van were in their rooms doing whatever teenagers did.

He smiled and shook his head, then stole a kiss before she could say something else. "Just remembering some things." He answered.

"So how long will you be sticking around for this time?" She questioned teasingly. "It wouldn't be so bad if you actually saw your kids grow up."

Goau grinned. "Oh, so you haven't replaced me at all?"

"You'd like that wouldn't you? To get out of having to ground them for getting in trouble or so you don't have to cook meals and do laundry." Varie joked.

He rolled his eyes. "I would be more than happy to cook, my dear." Goau glanced at the TV and they both sat there, watching it for a few minutes. "So how were things while I was away?" He started again.

Varie glanced over in mild surprise, though she shouldn't have been. They hadn't had the chance for an adult to adult talk because Van and Merle had buzzed around their father excitedly since his return earlier that day.

"Not too bad." She responded with a shrug, still watching the TV. "Van and Folken aren't fighting all the time."

Goau raised a brow at this, questioning.

She turned to him with a half-smile. "Well, only _half_ the time now. And Merle is using Van's friend as her big sister to get advice from. Or so I heard accidentally while passing by as she was on the phone..." Varie trailed off sheepishly with another shrug.

"Van's friend?" He raised a brow. "Who's that?"

"Oh, it's this girl named Hitomi!" Varie started eagerly. "She's nice and pretty and perfect for him!"

"Are you match-making?" He accused with a grin.

Her lips pulled back into a similar expression.

"_Is _he going out with someone?" Goau asked, for real this time.

"I don't know." She responded. "He's not gonna come right out with it if he is."

"Sounds like a recipe for disaster." He commented, shifting his eyes back to the television.

Varie rolled her eyes away, toward the object as well. "Don't be so pessimistic."

They were quiet again for a few minutes as the family sitcom played on screen. It ended after another fifteen minutes of some strange antics and a happy conclusion.

She turned to her husband and smiled. "I think it's time for bed. You've had a long day, right?"

Goau looked at her blankly.

Yes. He had.

**xoxo**

"I hate Tuesday almost as much as I hate Monday." Hitomi muttered, scribbling in a notebook with her brows furrowed.

Dilandau lazily took a sip of his chocolate milk and didn't contribute to distracting her.

"Wasn't that homework due..." Millerna started.

"Last period? Yesterday?" Hitomi asked, looking up with a frustrated expression.

"I hate Monday through Thursday." Dilly finally spoke.

Millerna rolled her eyes while Hitomi glared. He just grinned widely.

"Think happy thoughts Hitomi." The blonde encouraged before taking a bite of her sandwich.

"If I did then I wouldn't get any work done." She replied with a pout and went back to answering another question on paper. There was a pause before Hitomi spoke again. "I'm assuming since I'm the only one who spends lunch battling assignments that you guys are doing well in class." And she glanced over at the two.

Dilandau shrugged with his favorite mischievous look. "You know what they say about assuming."

"Guess so." Millerna shrugged, agreeing with him... on some level.

"How come you're not with Celena today?" Hitomi questioned, attempting to multi-task the conversation and her homework.

"She's busy." He shrugged. "And maybe, just _maybe_ I've missed you guys."

Here Millerna actually snorted. The other two turned to look at her strangely.

"Oh. You were being serious?" She blinked stupidly.

"Well, yeah. Isn't this our b-f-f club time?" Dilandau asked, trying to suppress a laugh.

"Right, so he wasn't being serious." Hitomi said, turning back to her book. "Hey, you aren't the only one here dating someone and yet I still find time to hang out with my friends." She said while writing quickly. "Then again, I only have you guys..." She mumbled thoughtfully.

"Shh." Dilandau said, causing Hitomi to look up again. He made some obvious motion toward Millerna, who was watching with a raised brow. "She's not dating anyone." He pretended to whisper. "You'll make her feel bad."

The blonde slapped a hand over his mouth. "You know what they say about _assuming_ things." She said to him.

"Mmhph?"

Hitomi peeled away the hand so he could speak.

"So you're dating someone?" He looked unconvinced.

"Yes! Why does everyone give me that look?" She asked, thinking back to Allen's reaction the day before. "In fact I have a date this afternoon."

"Whatever. As long as you get homework and stuff done." Hitomi responded, going back to her assignment.

"You sound like a teacher." Dilandau said with a flat look. "Or a parent." He added thoughtfully.

Millerna smiled, remembering she did need to finish that project for Friday.

"Or the principal." He went on, this time shuddering at some... _fond_ memories.

**xoxo**

"So then this is actually a date, right?" He questioned, looking at the girl walking beside him.

"I can only admit to that if your heart isn't going to explode in your chest." She responded with a quirky look. "You look kinda nervous." She leaned toward him to whisper.

He half-smiled. "Sorry, it's been a while."

Millerna raised a brow. "I hope that isn't because the last girl got a restraining order or something."

Dryden shook his head, marveling at the fact that she wasn't afraid to say anything in front of him. "I just haven't been interested in anyone in a while." And he left his words intentionally ambiguous, so she would have to ask if she wanted to know anything else. If she wanted to know... exactly what he felt about her.

The two kept up their casual pace.

It wasn't the first time they were seeing each other, if you included that day she met up with him for coffee (and maybe even dinner at her house, but she didn't like to think about that). But it was a first date. It was supposed to be a big deal.

But Millerna scoffed at anyone who thought everything was supposed to be magical and amazing. Dates don't always go like that. _Life_ doesn't always go like that.

But... well, she kinda liked him. At least a little. And it was obvious he was interested in her. I mean, arranged marriages are one thing but they actually had a say in it. They both decided on their own to see where this whole thing could lead. There was nothing wrong if it didn't work out.

But she was hoping it would.

"Where are we going?" She asked him.

He looked sheepish. "I know, I know. You had to take a bus and walk a few blocks to meet up with me. I'm really sorry about that."

Millerna just shrugged. "What? It's not like I've never taken a bus before." Dryden opened his mouth to say something but she cut him off with a smirk. "I only _look_ like a princess."

He closed his mouth with a grin. "Alright, well actually I need to buy a few new shirts."

Her eyes lit up. "Shopping?" The blonde questioned, somehow imagining him as a dress-up doll.

"Well, only if you can keep that manic look out of your eye." He replied, feigning a fearful expression.

"Oh, right! Of course." Millerna said, regaining some composure. "This already sounds like a fun date." She admitted. "Why are we shopping for shirts again?"

"Job interviews." He sighed.

She patted his back, though he was much taller than her. "Don't worry. Even if you totally make a moron out of yourself, at least you'll look good."

Dryden glanced up in surprise to find her smiling at him. He stared a moment before a smile broke out across his face as well.

"Alright then." There was a slight pause. "And thanks for the vote of confidence." He added.

Millerna was already rubbing her hands together in anticipation.

**xoxo**

"How about you Allen?" She called, causing everyone to look at him.

Said boy glanced up with a roll of his eyes and a bored look. "Why are you asking me?" He questioned back.

The teacher turned around to fully address him from where she stood at the front of the room. "I don't think it's that far of a stretch seeing as you've been present more this semester than last year."

Classmates were already losing focus and starting to chatter, possibly about him.

Allen shrugged and spit out what had to be the right answer, because she nodded once and went on with the lesson.

He sighed and leaned back into the chair once more, his head falling back to stare at the ceiling.

"If you participated in class more often then all the homework and studying you do wouldn't go to waste." She commented again, though still writing on the board.

A few students glanced in his direction in their boredom.

He shrugged again and said to whoever was watching him, "Wednesdays."

Some of them laughed, some grinned, some girls smiled at him, and finally... Allen grinned right back.

Just because he couldn't have what he may have wanted didn't mean he would end up with nothing at all.

He was Allen Schezar, and popular couldn't even begin to describe what he was through his high school years so far; he had a lot going for him.

So instead of acting like an asshole or reverting right back into a troublemaker, he decided he should just get back to enjoying life and the aspects of it that he liked. There was no need to mope around and brood like some contrived TV drama.

There was _nothing _to get over.

**xoxo**

He threw the book over his shoulder and grinned wickedly in her direction.

She just rolled her eyes and looked down to keep reading.

"Aw come on, we've done enough studying." Dilandau whined loudly.

Celena looked up again from where she sat cross-legged on the hardwood floor in Dilly's room. She blinked in thought, the open book resting in her lap.

Dilandau tilted his head and stared back at his girlfriend. He half-smirked, biting his lower lip with slightly raised brows.

She had to look down as she smiled, something she couldn't even try to suppress. Celena shook her head at him, and at herself. She picked up the book and put it to the side.

"So what do you wanna do then?" She asked him with a mockingly inquiring look. As if she didn't know.

"We could watch some TV." He replied like it was _obvious_.

She put her palms on the floor and moved forward slowly. "Yeah, okay." She nodded.

"Or get something to eat." He said with an unintentional yawn.

She glanced at her stomach. "That sounds better."

"Or..." He said again, but it was too late.

Celena climbed into his lap. And Dilandau let her. He grinned like he had won and leaned forward to kiss her.

She wanted to smile and shake her head again but the latter would be difficult without disturbing their current activity.

She put her hands on his shoulders and they slowly inched up the sides of his neck, and then the sides of his face where they stayed, thumbs stroking an inch of space thoughtlessly.

And he craned his neck upward because she was kneeling (painfully) over him, his legs in front of him and his hands landing carefully on her waist.

But they also slid, over and under the fabric of her shirt, unconsciously and easily pulling her body closer so he could wrap more of himself around her.

Soft skin and smooth curves.

He kissed her slowly, making each one last before he broke for less than a second to start again. And again, and again.

Open mouth. Close mouth. Eyes shut tight with feeling. Enjoying everything so much there wasn't room to smile.

Her knees hurt (hardwood wasn't as forgiving) but it was just background noise to this. _This_ made her day. Made _everything else _background noise. Slow or fast, it didn't matter as long as they could be this close to each other.

His hand moved a few inches higher as their movements became more erratic, lips moving eagerly and fingers bending away from the serene posture to lightly press and scrape against skin.

Celena pulled back for a moment and before Dilandau could say something after opening his eyes, she had pulled her shirt up and over her head.

He stared with slight shock and disbelief, mouth open and panting from the exertion.

She watched him carefully, also open-mouthed and breathing heavily. Which was now even more obvious because she was... She dropped the shirt next to them and smiled, before leaning toward him again and wrapping her arms around his head lazily.

Dilandau managed to grin before her lips pressed against his own. His hands, instead of resuming their place on her now exposed skin, went up to tangle in her hair.

Pale and soft, not much of a contrast from his own except that it was longer, but also longer than when they had first met almost two months ago.

Celena had to admit, seeing as she had _never_ been in this position before, she would probably be shaking nervously at her bold move and now vulnerable state if they weren't suddenly moving frantically and engrossed in this feeling, these actions.

It was so easy to get lost.

And if she had said this out loud then Dilandau would have agreed.

Whatever. There wasn't much thinking after that, not for a while anyway.

**xoxo**

"Hey!" She called, across the school grounds and over a sea of students talking while on their way out.

Of course it wasn't that hard to believe he hadn't heard her at all. Because he hadn't.

And if she wasn't such a good runner then he would have left before she could catch up to him.

"Hey." He said in surprise after turning around at the hand on his shoulder.

Hitomi smiled. "You didn't hear me." Then she looked over her shoulder at all the students. "But anyway, I haven't seen you at all except for class. What's going on?" She asked brightly.

Van grinned with a sheepish shrug. "Sorry, I was just about to head home. It's been a big week."

"What, why?" She questioned suspiciously. "Is Folken back? Did he quit college?" The brunette asked with a straight face. "Is he... taking _your_ room?"

Dun, dun, dun.

His strange look with a raised brow said it all.

"Okay, so then what's going on?" Hitomi asked again.

"My dad's back." He said simply, stumping the girl in front of him.

There was a silence as she thought this over, her eyebrows scrunched up. "Oh."

"Yeah," Van began excitedly. "He'll probably be home for the rest of the week until he gets assigned something else."

"So he'll be leaving again?"

"Maybe. Maybe not."

"Oh." She said as it dawned on her.

Well, if his dad might leave at the end of the week then why would she interrupt their time together?

"Right, well I'll see you tomorrow." Hitomi smiled.

Van planted a quick kiss on her lips before saying goodbye and leaving.

She watched as he practically skipped down the block in the direction of his house, and she almost started laughing out loud.

Hitomi was kind of new at this whole relationship thing, and anyway her and Van hadn't talked about it so she couldn't be sure how serious they really were. But either way she wouldn't go into that psycho girlfriend phase and start complaining about him not spending time with her.

She had seen him just three days ago (and in class didn't really count because they were both trying to _not_ fail). Still, she was new at this. And she may have had crushes before... but this was different.

It was the 'I miss talking to you when it's been more than a day' and 'Laughing with you about ordinary, stupid things makes me extraordinarily happy, somehow' and 'I still wanna get to know you more and more all the time'... phase.

It was hard for her to explain, so she didn't try to think about it too much. But for those people who had been there... it was just teenage hormones and growing up.

So she smiled in thought and turned away.

It was kind of cute that he wanted to hang out with his dad.

Hitomi grinned, already waiting to bring that up to tease him with.

**xoxo**

"I should get going. Class starts in ten."

She smiled. "Okay."

"Yeah, and I still have to walk across campus."

"Alright."

"Seriously. I should hang up."

"Go ahead." She responded lightly. No hidden meanings.

He paused and she imagined him stopping in his tracks as he realized something.

"You're doing this to me on purpose." He accused, though it sounded like he was smiling. "Reverse psychology, right? Agreeing with me is just going to make me _not_ want to hang up."

She grinned to herself, lying on her bed with her head hanging off the side. "Well, do you want to hang up?"

Another pause.

"Of course not." And this time she knew he was smiling. "I wish I could sit here and talk all day but I really should leave."

Millerna suppressed a sigh and said, "Then go. We'll talk later. _Or_ we could see each other this weekend."

Dryden pretended to gasp. "Why, are you asking me out on a date?"

She rolled her eyes. "One of us has to man up and do it."

"Well when you put it that way I think I'll be busy." He teased.

"It's Thursday. How could your entire weekend be filled up already?" She questioned. "Oh wait, I get it. Studying. You'll need to keep up those grades for all those scholarships, right?" She teased right back.

"Actually sweetheart, I don't have any scholarships."

She blinked in surprise. "Really? How do you..." The question trailed off as a thought came to mind.

"That's right." He said. "It's all out of pocket."

Millerna sat up suddenly, and a hand went to her head at the rush the action gave her. "How can you afford it..." She trailed off once more.

She could hear him moving around, probably gathering his bag and books before heading out the door.

"I'm not-" Dryden started, not quite sure how to say it. "I'm not struggling, if you get me. My family's just doing really well."

The blonde didn't say anything as she looked around her room in thought.

"I'll explain more later, if you'd like." He added. "You know, like this weekend."

The thoughtful expression eased into a smile. "Good."

"I'll talk to you later." He said hurriedly and then hung up after she said her goodbye.

He was probably late for class. He was probably jogging across campus from his dorm. He was probably... well, hopefully he was missing her voice already.

Millerna put the phone down on her end table and rolled around on her bed like a kid.

She couldn't quite accurately say she _like_ liked Dryden because she didn't really know what that felt like. There were only the millions of songs, poems, stories and descriptions given by other people that she could compare her feelings to.

But she definitely liked talking to him. She was definitely interested in him. And luckily he seemed to feel the same.

Even after she convinced him to buy a bright pink shirt the other day for an interview. It kind of made her cringe so she told him not to wear it even though he looked good in it. He just laughed it off and said he bought it because she seemed so in love with it but was secretly going to return it without telling her.

So now he knew she was kind of crazy but he didn't seem turned off by some of the weird things she'd said or done. Like when she made fun of him just because he couldn't fully describe the difference between phase and faze. How that topic came about is irrelevant (and also just another weird story).

They had been talking almost every day this week.

Millerna didn't really want to talk about Dryden with anyone because... what if things didn't work out? She would have let herself get excited and when it came crashing down then everyone would look at her with pity after she had gushed happily just days before. She would look _pathetic_.

This whole thing... _him_... it gave her hope, on some level. Hope that things could work out for her. That there weren't always hurdles, and then more hurdles, to get over. That it was just a clear, easy path that still led to a happy ending. Why did there always need to be struggles for something to be worthwhile?

She grabbed the book resting on her end table and let her head hit the nearest pillow.

Out of the corner of her eye she spotted the blank poster board, resting against the wall next to her bedroom door.

'Right, the project. I just need to type it up and finish the board. It's due tomorrow.' Millerna thought, wondering if she should get up right that second to start on it.

Well, it was still just four in the afternoon. She had all night. It wouldn't even take long, which was kind of boring. Which also meant she would probably procrastinate until much later.

She glanced over once more before deciding it could wait until she finished a chapter, and then went on to read.

**xoxo**

"Where are these kids?" He asked with a disgruntled expression.

Someone walked into the room with a plate and set it on the table before taking a seat.

"Probably... at school." The newcomer said with a decisive nod and smile.

Goau stared in surprise. "Oh. Right."

"Hungry, dear?" Varie asked, holding out the plate to him.

"Good for them." He went on, still in thought. He unconsciously reached to grab half of the sandwich.

She pulled back the plate and took the other half. "Don't worry." Varie said after taking a bite and carelessly speaking around the food.

After finding that to be a bad idea (there was a really good chance she would choke and her husband probably didn't know the Heimlich Maneuver) she waited until after chewing and swallowing to continue.

"It's Friday. The weekend is here. They'll be home for two days of sleeping in and being lazy and you'll wish they _did_ have school." She grinned at him.

One side of his lip curled up in a half-smile.

"You're right. All this traveling is too exhausting. I'm not exactly young anymore." Goau spoke with a wry expression.

"Oh come on. If you're old then I'm old." Varie argued.

He tilted his head with a look.

"I am not!" She said with wide eyes. Then she stuck a hand in her bangs and frowned like a child, the rest of her sandwich being put back on the plate.

Goau shook his head with a smile and got up from his chair to sit next to his wife on the larger sofa. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and kissed the side of her head lightly.

"So how about I stick around to cook dinner and do laundry?" He asked. "No more traveling."

Varie scoffed at him. "You barely leave us anyway, so why are you getting so worried now? This trip just lasted longer than we thought."

He shook his head. "Yeah, but I think I'm getting bored of it. I mean, it's lonely traveling by myself. Next time it should be for a family vacation or something."

They leaned back against the couch and stared ahead at the empty, quiet room.

"Time for some changes, that's all." Goau decided, mostly to himself.

Varie was silent and she looked around in thought.

**xoxo**

Millerna walked into the room just as the late bell rang and moved to her seat without thinking.

Instead of immediately opening her notebook and waiting for the lesson to begin she turned to stare aimlessly out the window, anticipating a boring class period. She didn't notice as Allen took his seat behind her or the low murmur of their classmates.

She didn't really notice anything until a few seconds after the teacher started speaking.

"-a surprise I know you're all going to hate." He announced with a grin. "Instead of just letting you hand in your projects, I thought it'd be better to gauge how much each of you actually participated by... drum roll anyone? Having you present it to the class."

Groans and protests went around the room before he finished the last line. Eyes were wide, people were complaining to each other and other students went on to try and dissuade the teacher.

Millerna's eyes widened as she looked around the room.

'The project? The project!' She thought in shock.

Some classmates began pulling out reports and rolled up poster boards from their bags.

"-randomly." The teacher continued, speaking over the dissatisfied voices of his students. "Allen Schezar and Millerna Aston."

Allen started to stand up, watching the girl in front of him as she slowly did the same.

"You two can go first."

There was a sigh of relief around the room from all the other students, happy to not be picked and not be first.

But she didn't move, and since she was blocking the aisle anyway he didn't either. She looked over her shoulder and her mouth opened like she wanted to say something to him, but then she just turned back to the teacher.

"We can't." Millerna said shortly, hating herself but trying not to show it. "We don't have it with us."

Allen stared in surprise, along with the rest of the class.

She didn't have it? ...She didn't _have it?_

He could feel something stirring in him but couldn't tell if it was the shock or anger or embarrassment or whatever.

The teacher's brows furrowed. "You... don't have it?" He asked back in his own disbelief. There was a moment as he decided how to proceed. "And why is that?" He couldn't just leave the two unpunished.

In that moment Millerna had the flashback of grabbing her bag and books as she headed out her room that morning. The poster board and typed up report were both sitting at her desk after she had started them and finished them late last night before dragging herself into bed.

If she hadn't started it so late she wouldn't have been so tired by the end of it. And if she hadn't been so tired at the end then she would stuck them into her bag before collapsing in bed. And if she hadn't forgotten them _like an idiot_ then they wouldn't be in this situation with... people staring... and the teacher looking ready to throw a textbook at her.

But it _was_ her fault. No way around it.

"It was me. It was my fault."

And then Millerna looked up in surprise and horror to see Allen standing next to her, only because she had blocked his view of the teacher and it would have looked pathetic making the confession with her as a shield.

Especially since it was a false confession.

"Bu-" She started, looking at the blonde.

"I kind of _forgot_ the report and poster at home." He went on, not glancing at her. Then he shrugged as if it wasn't a big deal.

There was a silence as everyone tried to absorb the information.

"I'll have to dock ten points from whatever grade you would have gotten had you been prepared today." The teacher said after some thought. "From both of you." He shook his head. "Sit down you two."

They both did so without another word, and another group was called upon to present (at which they groaned in dismay).

Millerna was staring down at her desk in confusion. Allen slumped in his chair with a shrug at some friend's questioning look.

She glanced over her shoulder and caught his eyes but Allen shrugged at her as well. She bit her lip while turning back around.

"What the hell just happened?" Millerna asked herself as someone started speaking with an awkward cough.

**xoxo**

"Who are you talking to?" Merle asked.

Van just made some motion with his hand while looking anywhere else as he spoke into the receiver.

"Is it Hitomi?" She asked again, walking to his other side in an attempt to make him look up.

He turned in the opposite direction again.

"Tell her I say hi!" Merle demanded, jumping up and down a few times.

Somehow, on his way back from the kitchen en route to his bedroom with the phone pressed to his ear, Van was caught by Merle in the hallway just outside his bedroom door. He ignored her in favor of the conversation and was waiting until she left him so he could crash on his bed and keep talking.

Goau looked up from where he sat at the sofa, reading a magazine and trying to figure out what he was going to make for dinner. Varie had decided to dump the chore in his lap last minute because it was "the start of the weekend" and then added "the start of something" with an ominous undertone.

He took the chore, pretending to be grateful he could show-off the skills that had developed over the course of his trip. But really, he ate weird things and cooked strange meals so he wasn't sure he could please all the members of his family.

If only Folken were around... that boy would eat almost anything.

But then his ears perked at the mention of the unfamiliar name.

"Who's Hitomi?" Goau asked, causing both children to glance over in surprise.

After a pause where the two stared him down with blank expressions... they turned away. Van tried to open his door and slip inside but Merle reached for the phone to grab it, causing her brother to duck and move away from his treasured space.

Goau sighed as his kids ignored him completely. What happened to them showering him with love and questions and excitement?

Guess things were back to normal now.

'Hitomi... Hitomi...' He thought, staring at the pages of the magazine. 'Aha!' He remembered.

"Don't you have laundry to do?" Van asked his sister as she pestered him for five minutes on the phone.

"Yeah right. I am not going down that road again!" She replied indignantly. "Not that anything was _my_ fault."

"Uh huh." He said with raised brows and a disbelieving expression.

Merle rolled her eyes and left for her room.

Van watched her until her door shut and then put the phone back to his ear and reached for his doorknob. "Yeah, sorry about-"

"Van, could I talk to you for a minute?"

Said boy sighed after being interrupted mid-sentence. "Hey, I'll call you back later, okay?"

After hanging up the phone he walked over to the living room where his dad was seated and flopped down on the nearest sofa.

"What's up?" Van questioned, putting the phone on the coffee table.

There was a silent moment as Goau glanced at the picture of a really impressive looking roasted chicken with a sigh. Then he shook his head and looked at his son with a smile.

"So who is Hitomi anyway?" He questioned.

Van blanched at the topic. "She's a friend... that I'm seeing." He cringed at the way this information came out of his mouth. What did that even _mean_?

"Well, you'd be blind not to." Pause. "Like literally blind."

The boy pretended to shrug it off with his father's attempt at a joke that only he chuckled at.

"So you know her from school then?" Was asked.

"Yeah, we have a class together." Van answered with a careful look.

"Uh huh." Goau responded, rubbing his chin in thought. "So if everyone else knows her then how come she hasn't been around this week?"

Van shrugged sheepishly. "I guess I was too busy worshipping the ground you walk on now that you're home."

"Good answer." He nodded with a grin.

There was an eerie silence that followed as neither knew what to say next. Finally, he decided to just come out with it.

"I saw her." The voice said firmly with a pleasant smile.

The hesitant expression faded into shock.

"I was home earlier than you realized because you two were busy at the moment." Goau continued. "But it would have been tactless to just interrupt you two and embarrass the hell out of you." He joked.

Van was too busy thinking back to Monday, trying to find any proof that this information was true or untrue.

"You were pretty wrapped up so it's not strange that you didn't notice. I only peeked in before I'd seen enough." Goau went on, and Van wished the conversation was over already.

He cringed as he asked, "What did you see exactly?"

His father's brows rose slightly with a mocking expression. "Nothing I haven't seen before. Nothing that requires us having 'the talk' again... unless you want to."

"No no!" Van said hurriedly. "Sex isn't going to happen. We barely know each other yet and we're still... kids." He finished lamely.

"Okay." Goau agreed with a shrug, as if it wasn't a big deal. "How come you didn't mention her at all?"

"Uh..."

"Everyone else seems to know her."

Van glanced to the side and muttered sarcastically, "Yeah, like _I _did that." He looked up at his dad suddenly. "We really don't need to do this. I mean I guess if things get serious and all," And he was hoping they would. "Then we could have that whole family dinner where I introduce her and everyone can make a big deal out of it. But right now things aren't serious-serious."

Goau nodded, still smiling. "That's good then. It makes what I have to say easier, I think."

The boy looked at his father curiously. "What?"

"I don't think you should be seeing her." He said plainly. "Or anyone really, for that matter."

Van stared in shock, yet again. He couldn't even muster a response.

"It's just some advice, but I don't think you're ready for this kind of thing." Goau shrugged.

There was some more silence as Van stared and Goau smiled.

"I'm not going to forbid you from seeing her or start doling out punishment for some rule that doesn't exist. It's just a suggestion and you can do whatever you want with it." When he didn't get a response, though Van's face had turned blank as he stared, he went on to say, "Okay, well I'll just leave you to think about everything."

And Goau slowly rose and headed to the kitchen, leaving his son to sit there with some inner turmoil.

Who knew things could take such a bad turn?

Van's eyes eventually landed on the phone he had put down on the coffee table. He stared at it hard for a minute, almost glaring, while in thought.

Instead of grabbing it and heading back to his room to resume his conversation with, yes, Hitomi... he stood up and left the device there without a second glance.

His dad was right. He couldn't force Van to do anything.

But he must have known that his opinion really mattered. He should have known saying that would put Van in this awkward, unsure position. He _had _to have known... this would ruin his weekend.

And if Hitomi happened to be waiting with the phone close by... it was just a waste of hope.

**xoxo**

**11-18-10**

**10:19pm**

Guys... my writing through this story, through this one chapter is like so _inconsistent_! Anyone else notice that and wonder 'what the hell is up with her?'

Sorry it took me about a month to write this chapter. I think just reading it is painful and you can tell it was hard to write. It's what happens when certain talents depend on your emotions, and my writing is very dependent on my own.

You know I think you all need to lay off Dryden. Seriously I don't see anything wrong with him. Some of you just want to jump up and hate him for no legitimate or rational reason whatsoever. But before any of you collapse from disbelief at what I know you might assume... remember the summary of the story (albeit as childishly written as it was)? It basically told you there would be Allen/Millerna so believe it. Just be patient, gosh.

Tell me what you liked, what you didn't like, what you hated and everything in-between. And remember, I post updates about what I'm working on in my profile if you're ever wondering. You can also just send me a PM asking 'where's the next chapter already?' or something.

XD

11-19-10

2:06pm


	30. Chapter 30

1-30-11

10:33pm

**xoxo**

**Title-Are you stalking me?**

**Chapter 30**

**By-Moon Prynces**

**xoxo**

"Hey, Dad said dinner's ready."

Van looked up at his bedroom door, wide-eyed, as Merle stood there waiting. She remained a second longer before shrugging and leaving him.

It was only a minute later that Van walked into the kitchen, slinging on a jacket.

"I gotta go see Allen." The boy stated quickly and then headed for the front door before anyone could respond.

Goau had opened his mouth to say something but obviously wasn't even given the chance.

Varie raised her brows and turned to the only other two people in the room. "I guess he won't find out how bad your cooking is." She said to her husband, suppressing a wicked grin.

His mouth opened and his expression said, 'what the heck?' while Merle rolled her eyes.

**xoxo**

It wasn't that Van was being a drama queen or trying to avoid his family, but it just seemed awkward to sit around having dinner while he still felt like he'd done something wrong. In his dad's eyes anyway.

So he arrived at Allen's house and banged on the door like he was being chased in a slasher film.

"What are you doing?" Was the first thing the blonde asked, because Van was out of breath by then and it was kind of chilly outside. Oh, and also because it's not like they had anything planned so it was unexpected.

Van rolled his eyes and pushed his way inside. "Where is everyone?" He questioned, hands still stuffed in his jacket's pockets.

"Mom and dad are in the basement." Allen flinched. "Hopefully just doing laundry."

They both shuddered.

"And Celena's in her room. For once." He added.

"Sounds like a full house." The dark-haired boy commented and finally decided to sit on the couch.

Allen stood there, raising a brow. "So... what? They're not feeding you or something?"

"I'm not in your fridge, alright!" Van said overdramatically.

Then he turned to the coffee table to grab the television remote and spotted the phone. His brows came together and his actions slowed down considerably.

"So what's going on at your house?" Allen asked as he also took a seat.

"Dinner." He responded flatly and started channel surfing.

"Seriously?" The disbelief was obvious. "It's almost nine o'clock."

Van looked up in thought, having not realized the hour. Then he remembered with a nod that it was because his dad was cooking, but didn't bother to offer this explanation.

"Did you eat?" Allen ventured.

A shrug was given before he said, "Not really hungry."

Now the blonde's eyes were the size of _dinner plates_. "What?" He gasped. "What's wrong, man? I can heat up some lasagna if you want."

Van just shook his head, holding back the rolling of eyes. Figures Allen would try to feed him when he wasn't even hungry. "Can we just watch some TV?"

"You look like you're gonna get up and leave any second."

At this Van glanced down and saw his jacket still on. He made a great show off jumping to his feet, ripping off the jacket and then tossing it to the empty sofa before falling back into his seat.

"There." He said forcefully, but still staring at the TV.

Ten minutes passed in silence as they watched some random cartoon that wasn't irritating. Van leaned back into the couch and folded his arms casually while Allen leaned forward with his elbows resting on his legs.

Although commercials were frequent enough to get on anyone's nerves, the two didn't really comment on it or turn to each other for conversation.

What would he have said? Van really didn't feel like ranting about his... life. It was tired _and _tiring.

Should he tell Hitomi though? Yeah, cuz she wouldn't get all alarmed or upset or anything.

Van rolled his eyes to himself.

Did his mom and dad discuss this or something? No... Goau was just expressing his personal opinion on the matter. And besides, Varie loved Hitomi.

Said girl was probably wondering if something happened that prevented him from calling back like he said he would. Well technically, something did happen.

His eyes were drawn to the phone sitting on the table.

"Were you making calls or something?" He turned to the blonde, who glanced up in surprise.

Abruptly, Allen scowled and reached over to grab the phone. "Yeah, I was."

Then, without getting further into it, he just hit redial and put the phone to his ear while Van stared on with wide eyes at the sudden turn of events. His friend looked kind of peeved, now that he was forced to pay him some attention.

The blonde sat in thought as a voice spoke and then decided to wait it through this time.

"Hi, this message is for _Miss Millerna Aston_." The mocking tone he used did not go unnoticed and Van gaped. "I'm just calling to _remind_ you to bring that project on Monday. Neither of us wants to fail." Allen paused, looking thoughtful. "It looks like we won't be getting that A after all."

And then he hung up and tossed the phone next to him on the couch, where it sat between him and Van.

"What just happened?" The dark-haired boy questioned in horror.

He did not need to be witness to Allen either threatening or seducing someone (especially Millerna)... cause honestly he couldn't decipher what exactly just went down. It had to be one or the other though, right?

"Stupid girl won't answer the phone or something. I didn't see her at school the rest of the day so I called a few times earlier."

"To make sure she... brought the project? Is that code for something I don't want to hear about?" Van questioned with a disturbed expression.

It took Allen a moment, watching the TV blankly, to realize what his supposed b-f-f was getting at.

"What? No! We have an actual project you idiot!" He shook his head in disgust. "Just like my parents." He muttered.

A slight pause followed as Van became miffed at that comment.

"Hey Allen, I think I hear a thumping sound." He smirked, staring ahead. "You should go see if your parents are okay down there."

"Oh god!" Allen groaned loudly and put his head in his hand.

Luckily, this had just been a ploy to get back at the blonde... otherwise the two would probably have run upstairs to have Celena quiet the adults down.

**xoxo**

She glanced down for a second in thought, hands paused in the air.

It was gnawing at her again, damnit.

Millerna quickly went back to leaning towards the mirror and applying her lip gloss.

It was a new day. Saturday, to be exact. She had a date. She was getting ready for said date.

But still! She kept coming up with this oh-so-confused face, desperately trying to find a reason why Allen had stepped up to protect her (dwindling) reputation. Twenty-four hours had passed since then. It was just so... baffling.

She was so amazed and horrified and just _confused_ that she wanted to cry out in frustration.

She hated herself for forgetting the project. Hated herself for putting them in such a tight spot. And really, really _hated_ herself for making her life more complicated than before.

When she stumbled down to the first floor, grabbing a bag and jacket, the phone rang. Since it could have been Dryden she was forced to answer it.

Turned out she was right. He was just altering their plans a little bit though. Instead of letting her meet him halfway, he was taking one of his family's cars and picking her up.

After hanging up and feeling relief at not having to rush, she was just about to turn away when she spotted something.

Millerna froze as she heard the voice being played back to her. And then she winced.

Allen had called?

The same desperate, I-don't-know-what's-happening expression came over her and she plopped down to sit on one of the steps.

Just the sound of his voice made her jolt in surprise.

She took a deep breath and tried to wait patiently for her date to show up.

**xoxo**

"You're up... before noon." She commented, looking into his bedroom.

"Mmhmm." Her brother responded, not looking up from his desk.

She was just about to move on, seeing as he seemed busy.

"Hey, did you know this stuff is actually useful for something?" Allen asked, finally looking up briefly.

Celena stopped from turning away and stared suspiciously before cautiously trekking into his room to see what the _heck_ he was referring to.

When she spotted the open notebook and textbooks, her face immediately fell into shock. She wasn't sure when she'd last seen Allen study something!

"Uh," She started after calming down. "What do you mean?"

"Like this stuff requires so much focus, you don't have the time or energy to worry about anything else." He turned back to the books, pencil (_pencil!_) in hand. "And it's not that hard when you just pay attention to what's going on."

Ohmygod. She was practically hyperventilating by then.

Did her brother just start doing homework? Did he also just discover he was secretly a genius underneath all his laziness and "too cool for this" attitude?

Allen shook his head as he literally felt her emotions.

It was better than thinking. He knew where that would lead. _Nowhere_.

He glanced over his shoulder and raised a brow. "Don't you have homework to do?"

**xoxo**

Goau was still on vacation from work, and thus, wandering around the house restlessly.

Van and Merle sat on the living room sofa, trying to watch TV while Varie was in the shower.

Finally, an irritated young girl said, "Dad, go take a nap or something."

Her father frowned and instead chose to sit down in his armchair, looking to the television. He didn't bother commenting on her words, because he knew his restlessness was getting to them too.

Van didn't say anything, and was at the edge of his seat (metaphorically).

He hadn't really spoken to his dad after getting home late the previous night from Allen's.

In fact... now that he thought about it carefully... he realized he was kind of annoyed.

Sure, maybe before he was feeling a bit sorry for himself. He had thought that everything was going fine. Not only were things good between him and Hitomi, but his family loved her. She could come over and no one would complain or roll their eyes or make rude and nasty comments to/about her. It was looking perfect!

And this wasn't to say his dad would be some horrible person to her but... it just wasn't the same. Having his dad _tolerate_ her was not the same as having him actually like her and wanting her over.

As weird as it was to say, he wanted his family to have that in-law kind of relationship with Hitomi (the accepting kind, mind you) where they treated her like family and stuff. To him that was a great relationship.

But then his dad had to be all crazy and ruin any hope of that.

Van jumped up from his seat and headed to his room, grabbing the phone on his way.

Why should he let something like this get in the way of their blossoming (yes, he did use that word) relationship? He liked her, she liked him, and there weren't any real obstacles... so he called her back. Finally.

**xoxo**

"So, what do you wanna do?" He questioned while pulling away from the curb.

"I dunno." She shrugged. "What do you wanna do?"

Dryden glanced over for a second with a grin. "We can't have one of those conversations. I already started driving."

Millerna pretended to roll her eyes at him. "Okay, how about food? Like... french fries?" She asked sheepishly.

It wasn't exactly a dinner date or even a lunch date. It was just barely past noon.

"Well, since fast food is already a poor suggestion... you mind if we just use the drive-thru?" He questioned back with a half smile and shrug.

"Yeah yeah, it's good." She said before turning to her window and watching the cars that went by.

After a quiet minute of her falling into the trap (which were her thoughts on Friday's events) the blonde turned back to him.

"You said you'd tell me about your family, and you know, all the money stuff." Millerna said with a cheeky smile.

Dryden looked at her as he paused at the speaker box of the establishment. "Is that a hint of gold-digger I detect?"

"Like you don't wanna be my sugar daddy." She scoffed. "Fries!" And she pointed at the picture like it was foreign to him.

"Yeah... we're still gonna come back to that." He grinned and went on to order, getting her fries and himself a burger and milkshake.

This quickly turned into an argument of vanilla milkshake versus chocolate milkshake, all with the guy working the drive-thru listening tiredly and not making any effort to hurry them along.

"Okay, well my family's good with money." Dryden said fifteen minutes later.

They were parked near a _park_, sitting in the car and eating while people-watching. They settled for vanilla milkshake, in case you were wondering (Millerna won).

"Making it, investing it, spending it. Basically everyone's in business. Working with stocks, real estate, whatever." He continued, glancing at the sandwich in one hand.

"You're loaded." She said with a quirked brow. "Well now I don't feel bad about that sugar daddy comment. Not that I'm _actually_ suggesting it." She grinned.

Another moment passed as they continued eating.

"So then this begs the question... why an arranged marriage?" Millerna looked up, asking this as soon as the thought struck her. "You've got money. You're smart and attending university. You kind of have a future set up."

He waited, blinking vacantly.

She rolled her eyes, fighting the slight embarrassment at her next admission, which was nothing but mere _truth_. "And you're all nice and charming and good-looking." And she tried not to sound irritated as he fought a smile at her uncomfortable state. "You don't need to-"

Millerna paused and became thoughtful. Then again, maybe he was looking to avoid that whole gold-digger scenario.

She sat back in her seat again, turning to stare out the front windshield while eating her fries with a blank expression.

"You seem kinda perfect." She said distantly before lifting more fries to her mouth.

Dryden smiled, a little bashful at the praise and revealing another redeeming quality; modesty.

"No one's perfect. It just seems that way." He said before taking another bite of his burger and following her gaze.

"But I'm guessing you've dated around before, right? You didn't just settle for this."

"Well yeah, I've had girlfriends but," And he shrugged. "Stuff happens."

Millerna couldn't help but wonder what it would have been like to have other experiences. To play the field, so to speak.

If this was it for her, a (possibly) perfect marriage to a (seemingly) perfect guy, would she regret not running around with bad boys like Allen, and just other guys in general?

Not to say she wanted a whole lot of drama and heartbreak and tears but... it would be nice to have some memories to recount, experiences to share, things to cross off the mental checklist she didn't really have. Because no one really has one... they just embrace the situations that arise and come out with something more or something less, but always with a story of how it all happened.

Well there was all the crap with Allen in the beginning and she could always tell the story of how her first kiss happened. But only after many years passed and she was done feeling shameful about the entire thing.

Either way, it was kind of too late to just go back, experiment and then come back to Dryden. It would be wrong and unfair, for both of them.

And right now she wasn't really regretting anything just yet. The thought was just a what-if about the future.

"We're kind of similar, I guess." She spoke after frowning down at the now empty container. No more fries. "My family has it pretty good when it comes to money too. I don't suppose you wondered how my mom and I live in such a nice house by ourselves?"

Dryden looked to her, both of them now finished eating. "Not really." And he smiled that slow, unassuming smile.

Millerna felt herself stop breathing a moment, before smiling back reflexively and hating herself for not knowing how to deal with hot guys.

Well, at least she realized something... Having (near) perfect guys interested in her _was _the kind of drama she could look forward to.

Her smile turned into a smirk. "So what happened with the last girlfriend? She didn't like your hair after all?"

Dryden pouted and self-consciously took hold of his ponytail.

**xoxo**

"What happened last night?" She questioned as they continued walking through the shopping area.

He had his hands stuffed in his jacket's pockets and was moving at a pace that had her struggling a bit to keep up.

Hitomi's brows wrinkled in confusion and suspicion as Van kept his eyes downcast with a thoughtful expression.

It's not like she'd been worried when he didn't return her phone call. She kind of shrugged it off and assumed he'd gotten caught up with family things, the same thing that had happened to her after ten minutes of waiting around.

It was ridiculous to assume the world stopped when they weren't in contact with each other. She had a life before him and she would still have one whether he was there or not.

But he did return her call. Eventually.

He'd called an hour ago and said they should see each other, and so there they were. Of course he'd sounded happier on the phone...

"Something wrong?" Hitomi questioned as his footsteps finally slowed.

Van blinked and glanced at her.

"No." He responded, a hand slipping out of the pocket to grasp hers (so suddenly that she jumped). "I just missed you."

His face was calm and there was a small, sincere smile. This caused Hitomi to flush, though wishing hard she wasn't so easy to embarrass. Well maybe it wasn't all her fault... why did he have such a nice smile?

She felt him tug her hand lightly, taking a hold of their destination.

And that was how she found her back pressed against a wall, making out with the hottest guy in her universe (at that moment anyway).

It was a small alley, in-between two shops, and very much secluded enough that no one would pass by and force them apart.

Van kept his hands at her waist, though his hips pressed against hers unconsciously and Hitomi's hands rested in his hair, sometimes grasping the base of his neck.

She always wondered how in the world people just started making out in very public places, more public than this, without a care in the world. She thought it would be more awkward, hard to ignore the world around them and just plain uncomfortable.

But a minute after his lips found hers, she quickly accepted the smattering of body parts and the tickling, tingling in her chest, from the exhilaration and her own feelings toward him.

Van didn't feel his lips pull back into a smile, the expression that usually came over him when they were in such a position. Instead, for once, he kissed her hungrily in the way one usually saw in movies and TV shows, where said kisses looked completely over-exaggerated and fake.

But this wasn't fake.

It was so good to just be in control.

Which wasn't what he heard in his head, his dad's voice from earlier asking where he was headed.

Where was this headed?

As these thoughts crowded his mind for a few seconds, his actions slowed. But then when he pulled back a quick moment to assess Hitomi's tinted complexion and closed eyes he found himself glaring while her chest moved up and down, breathing.

Not glaring at her, but at himself. For being so bothered.

He rolled his eyes at himself and moved closer again, taking back that space and her mouth.

It didn't remove the irritating thoughts, just quieted them down.

This was far from over.

**xoxo**

She walked in, closing the front door and moving to the kitchen to drop the few bags on the counter.

"Where'd you go?" Allen asked as he walked in the room and started poking around at the bags.

"Mom sent me to pick up some groceries." Celena responded and began unloading things to put away. "You gonna help?" She asked after a minute where her brother just stood there and watched her.

Allen shrugged like he wasn't sure and she rolled her eyes. He turned to leave the room without another word or even lifting a finger, but Celena started absently speaking while sticking things in the refrigerator (not noticing his near departure).

"I think I saw Millerna while I was out." She told him. "I haven't talked to that girl in ages."

The blonde boy quirked a brow and moved to sit at the kitchen table and resume carelessly watching his sister do all the work.

"Yeah? Where was she?"

Celena looked at him with a frown, having thought he had ditched her either way. "Oh, she was in a car with someone driving. I'm pretty sure it was her." She replied thoughtfully while making her way to another bag and emptying it into a cabinet nearby.

"Who was she with?" He went on, seemingly nonchalant. "Did she happen to have a poster board on her?" And he rolled his eyes, remembering the previous day.

She glanced at him with furrowed brows. "Poster board? Uh, I dunno who she was with. Some guy." And shrugged while rounding up the stray plastic bags.

"A guy?" Allen said to himself, disbelieving and caught off guard. "Hmm."

"Okay, well I think I did have homework to get to." Celena said, referring to his earlier comment, and left the room.

Unfortunately, her brother was trailing after her like a dog.

"What'd he look like?"

"Huh?" She glanced over her shoulder (and almost tripped on the second stair) to see him following behind. "Um, he... I don't know. I didn't get a good look."

And then she finally reached her bedroom door, but Allen was still casually on her heels.

"Is he from our school?" He questioned, realizing how weird it was to say out loud. He thought he'd gotten used to him and Celena attending the same school for once.

The girl finally spun around with a bewildered expression. "God Allen! All I said was I think I saw her in a car! I didn't stop and start staring so I could be sure! Geez, the way you're acting I'd think you were stalking her." At this point her mild annoyance turned into sadistic teasing. "Should I go back out and find her?" She gave an amused smile and put her hands on her hips.

Allen promptly scowled and turned in the direction of his room. "Can't ask a simple question."

Celena rolled her eyes and went into her own domain.

**xoxo**

"Hey, where's your girlfriend?" She asked, and then smirked. "She dump you already?"

Dilandau rolled his eyes, irritated. "Would you quit that! It's not even funny!"

His mother was too busy suppressing her wide smile and laughter. "Your father thinks it is."

"How is that possible? You've been asking every day since you met her!" He said in disbelief. "Go- go cook or something!"

The boy let his head fall back onto his pillow and threw a hand over his eyes. What a way to wake up on a Sunday morning.

**xoxo**

**Alright,** that's all for chapter 30. I know it's short and not all that great... but I have the next one or two chapters ready to be written. This took me four/five days to write so I'm guessing the next one won't take long either.

Sorry there wasn't really any Dilandau/Celena interaction in there. I decided I couldn't leave him out of the chapter and added that bit at the end. I'm thinking this story is focusing too much on the romance so I'll try to shift some focus on friendships and family relations next chapter.

Besides that I'm not sure if there were any issues I wanted to address but if you have any questions or comments you'd like me to respond to go ahead and say something!

As always, thank you for reading, tell me what you think and if you want to see when I might update or what's going on with me you can check my profile.

2-3-11

11:31pm


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